Cast, Set Pic, Plot, Trailers & Release Date

For better or for worse, the controversial romance novel It Ends With Us, by Colleen Hoover, took TikTok by storm. So much so that it was announced it would be adapted into a film — which was great news for fans, and not-so-great news for haters.

It Ends With Us was released in 2019, but didn’t take off straight away. It became really popular a couple of years later, and was the top-selling print book of 2022. The novel was optioned for a film in 2019 by Justin Boldoni (of Jane the Virgin fame) and Wayfarer, and Colleen Hoover will be consulting.

The romance novel is controversial for a lot of reasons, namely its portrayal of abusive relationships and Hoover’s own odd decision to make a colouring book based on it. No matter what corner of BookTok you’re on, everyone’s got an opinion on it — so perhaps it’s not surprising that it’s been so successful.

Here’s everything we know about the It Ends With Us movie so far.

What is It Ends With Us About?

It Ends With Us follows Lily Bloom, a 23-year-old college graduate who moves to Boston for a fresh start after her abusive father’s disastrous funeral.

Lily opens her own ~alternative florist~ in the new city, which somehow thrives. We’re talking purple and black roses in musty steampunk boots with gears on them, lol, it’s very 2010.

Lily and Ryle’s sister Allysa in her florist. Image: Jojo Whilden

It’s in Boston that Lily also meets the talented, rich and extremely hot neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid who is seven years older than her. After heaps of sexual tension, the two start a relationship.

However, things become complicated when Atlas Corrigan, Lily’s first love, also appears in Boston — resurfacing conflicted feelings for her and creating tension in her already precarious new relationship.

I won’t give the rest away, but there’s some pretty heavy themes in this novel: domestic violence, sexual assault and childhood abuse, to name a few. It’s part of the reason the novel is so controversial: some have criticised Colleen Hoover’s handling of these themes and accused her of romanticising abuse. Others, though, like that she portrays abusers as flawed people and not monsters — to them, it’s more real.

Either way, it’s a lot. So be warned, if you’re going to read/watch it.

Who is in the cast of It Ends With Us?

Gossip Girl queen Blake Lively has been cast as Lily Bloom in It Ends With Us.

“Our Lily is going to be played by Blake Lively. Blake Lively, y’all. She’s my dream Lily,” Colleen Hoover said in an announcement in January, 2023.

Ryle Kincaid will be played by Justin Boldoni, and Atlas Corrigan will be played by Brandon Sklenar. Jenny Slater will be playing Ryle’s sister Allysa.

In flashback scenes, Isabela Ferrer will play a younger Lily, and Alex Neustaedter will play a younger Atlas.

it-ends-with-us-cast — *Isabela Ferrer and Alex Neustaedter will portray a younger Lily and Atlas. Image: Getty / Cindy Ord*

The casting has raised eyebrows among some fans who feel everyone is too old for their characters — with Lively in particular facing backlash because she is 36, but Lily is meant to be 23. Boldoni is 39 when Ryle is meant to be somewhere around 29 and 30, and Sklenar is 32 when Atlas is meant to be around 26.

However, Colleen Hoover has addressed the issue and said she chose to age up the characters for the film.

“I didn’t know that neurosurgeons went to school for 50 years,” she said.

“There’s not a 20-something neurosurgeon.

“As I started making this movie, I’m like, ‘We need to age them out because I messed up.’ So that’s my fault.”