Blake Lively has received recent backlash in the media due to controversial comments she has made about domestic abuse. However, there is no denying that her effortless beauty and emotionally captivating acting fits the role of Lily Bloom perfectly.
In Colleen Hoover’s tear-inducing novel-turned-movie, “It Ends With Us,” Lily Bloom brings the cinemas to life, leaving viewers stunned and surprised.
The story is based around a toxic love story with comparisons of Lily’s teenage years where she saw her mom being abused to her now personal experience as an adult.
After her father’s funeral, Lily meets a neurosurgeon, Ryle, portrayed by Justin Baldoni. Ryle gives the first red flag when he and Lily meet on the rooftop. After escaping her father’s funeral Lily runs into Ryles forcefully kicking over a chair out of anger and frustration, which is easy to look past given his looks, charming nature and addictive personality.
As they go through their love story, it appears to be an “end all be all” love, leaving viewers blinded when they see a person’s true colors shine through.
Throughout this movie, viewers see how Ryle’s and Lily’s passionate relationship turns to envy when Lily runs into her past lover, Atlas, played by the dashing Brandon Sklenar.
It isn’t until a night out in Boston with Ryle did she run into Atlas again; at his new restaurant, “Roots.”
The problems seem to only escalate from there. When Ryle finds out about the past between them, he is overcome with jealousy, showing the emotional scars of Ryle’s past. They’ve marked him with an uncontrollable temper turned violent in what appeared to be a once in a lifetime love.
A time frame is introduced into the movie as the audience starts to see Lily’s past of being a bystander to abuse in her own home. Her father and his actions towards her mom compare to Ryle’s actions towards her. The audience is able to see the mix of confusion, denial, and from watching domestic abuse happen from a bystander perspective to being a victim of it yourself.
Once Lily has her and Ryles daughter, she makes the decision that her family’s history of abuse “ends with us.” The flashbacks and different points of Lily’s lifetime throughout the movie allow the audience to fully understand the process and events that lead up to Lily leaving Ryle; her abuser, leaving a powerful and inspiring message for all people no matter their experience.
Lily leaving showed the independence and strength that all people have, no matter the situation. It is then that viewers discover the extent of Ryle’s actions towards her, leaving the audience more hurt than ever.
With Lively starring as the main character and also taking over the directing process, the media was surprised and disrupted after hearing her response when asked about domestic abuse.
As Lively was being interviewed by Jake Hamilton, she left everyone with a puzzled face towards her reply after she was asked about how she would address someone talking to her about the theme of the movie.
“Maybe asking for, like, my address, or my phone number. Or, like, location share?! I could just location-share you and then we could …” Lively said.
Her response to this left with many questions and confusion. As the message was intended to be a joke, the topic of domestic abuse isn’t a time to crack a joke or have a funny moment for the media.
Lively quickly tried to rebound by trying to relate it back to victims and witnesses that have a direct connection to the abuse, however this still was not enough to make up for the unnecessary comment she first made.
There is no deciphering what she meant about the first response, whether it was an attempt to crack an unnecessary joke, or something else. Either way, her charismatic personality, flawless features and creative mind do justice for her role in the movie.
