‘It Ends With Us’ Controversial Movie Ending Explained

The It Ends With Us movie ending is sure to ruffle some feathers.

Now that It Ends With Us is premiering, both longtime fans of the book and people new to the story will be watching the film adaptation.

The novel, inspired by the author’s own experiences with her parents’ abusive relationship, is controversial. The film was always going to ignite controversy, too.

Perhaps the most incendiary part of It Ends With Us is the ending itself. What should movie-goers expect?

What is the ‘It Ends With Us’ movie about? (Spoiler Warning!)

It Ends With Us is an adaptation of the 2016 novel by the same name. The novel is by Colleen Hoover. The screenplay is by Christy Hall.

The film stars Blake Lively as the main character, Lily Bloom. Initially appearing as a romance story, Lily falls in love with Ryle Kincaid and the two hit it off right away.

However, the story quickly takes a dark turn, as Lily notices too many similarities between her marriage to Ryle and her parents’ abusive marriage. At one point, he pushes her. Another time, he shoves her down the stairs.

In addition to spoilers, beware of graphic depictions of domestic violence and sexual assault

Every abuser has a sob story, some genuine and others fabricated. In Ryle’s case, he accidentally shot and killed his brother as a child. Now, as an adult, he has outbursts of intense rage — flying into abusive fits and directing his explosive violence at his wife.

One particularly horrific moment is when Ryle invades Lily’s privacy, rifling through her journals. This is an extremely common behavior in abusive partners (and abusive parents, exes, and more). In this case, her childhood diaries mention her platonic friend, Atlas Corrigan — and he becomes convinced that she is having an affair.

Ryle’s abuse escalates. He sexually assaults her and, when she attempts to fend him off, headbutts her with such force that she loses consciousness.

‘It Ends With Us’ describes an all-too-realistic nightmare

Lily does escape Ryle, calling Atlas to come to her rescue. Atlas takes her to the hospital — where Lily discovers that she is pregnant with her abuser’s child.

Understandably, Lily does not want to raise her child in an abusive household. That is how she grew up.

However, she ultimately decides to stay with Ryle through the final months of her pregnancy. She does confide in Atlas about Ryle’s abuse, which he had already suspected. And, after giving birth to their daughter, she files to divorce the monster so that her daughter will not have to grow up in the same household. Later, co-parenting with Ryle, she and Atlas signal a desire to form a relationship as adults.

Why is ‘It Ends With Us’ controversial?

Any story about domestic abuse is going to ignite controversy. No one’s experience is the same. Some survivors will have had it worse (always, always, someone had it worse). Others may find that the abuser is too sympathetic, or less sympathetic than the abusers they’ve experienced.

Many book-readers do not understand why Lily allowed Ryle to remain in her life for as long as she did. Critics say that they would have ended the relationship as soon as he shoved her, or at least as soon as he pushed her down the stairs.

Additionally, there is controversy over Lily’s decision to allow Ryle to co-parent their daughter. Obviously, an abuser is an abuser. Even if he never directs his violent rage at Emmy (which is a big if), she’s sure to witness it when he dates again.

Why did the author make these choices?

Unfortunately, in the book and in the movie, It Ends With Us‘ ending is painfully realistic for millions of domestic violence survivors.

Abusers often target people who have experienced abuse in the past. That is realistic, and what Ryle does in teh book and in the movie. Even though Lily resented her parents for their abusive marriage, it clearly paved the way for Ryle to try to convince her that his treatment of her was somehow normal or okay.

Colleen Hoover, who took inspiration from her father’s abuse of her mother when writing It Ends With Us, clearly understood that. Abusers are manipulative people, and survivors can still make bizarre choices. It’s always good to remember that fictional stories are not guidebooks to how real people should behave. This is not a morality play.

Is there ‘It Ends With Us’ movie drama?

It appears that there’s major behind-the-scenes drama on It Ends With Us. One of the lead actors (Justin Baldoni) is also the director, but appears to be at odds with much of the cast. Or … maybe fans on Twitter and Instagram are just reading too much into it.

Whatever is afoot, people are comparing this press tour to the Don’t Worry Darling debacle.

Can’t we all just enjoy a Blake Lively film? Well, given the subject matter, “enjoy” might not be the right word. But the early reviews say that solid acting is one of the movie’s succeses.