Minor spoilers are ahead for It Ends With Us. You can see the movie right now in theaters.
When it comes to book-to-screen adaptations of a novel that’s told in first-person, I’m always curious about how a character’s inner monologue will be brought onto the screen. So, when It Ends With Us was released, I was wondering how Lily’s thoughts would be translated to the film, because they play such a vital role in the novel. So, I decided to ask Blake Lively about it, and she told me the “important” way the film handles her character and her inner monologue.
Ahead of It Ends With Us’ premiere on the 2024 movie schedule, I interviewed Blake Lively about her adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel. During it, I asked about how they translated Lily’s inner monologue onto the screen, considering they can’t use the first-person perspective in the same way it can be used in a book. In response, the actress told me:
Colleen wrote a book that had such a clear emotional journey that I completely understood why Lily made the decisions that she made. I understood why she loved the people that she loved, why she was hurt by the people [who hurt her], and all of the decisions that she made. And it felt very, very, very personal. And you know, was fortunate to have a lot of authorship in the storytelling.
Her understanding of the character was evident on screen, and it made the film all the more rewarding and well-rounded. While we aren’t constantly in Lily’s head and hearing every single one of her inner thoughts, Lively emotes and reacts in a way that makes them clear. Plus, when you add in her fashion, set design and music, in a lot of ways this film feels first-person, as the Gossip Girl alum said:
I think this movie feels first-person. I don't think it feels like you're an objective party watching and observing Lily. I feel like you're very much with Lily on this journey, and you feel what she feels as she's feeling it. You feel why she justifies certain things that she justifies, why she makes good decisions, why she makes bad decisions, why she makes grey decisions. And her victories feel like your victories when she has those moments. And her pain feels like your pain. And that was really, really important to us in the filmmaking and in the storytelling.
When I went into this film, I was wondering how we’d understand Lily’s thoughts, especially when it came to the moments of domestic violence in the film. A critical part of the story is reading about the thoughts she has about what Ryle did to her, and why she doesn’t leave immediately. It adds a level of understanding to what Lily is going through and the toxic situation she has tragically found herself in.
It also makes her strength abundantly clear, because we fully understand how much courage it took for her to break the pattern she was in.
However, as Lively said all of that can be seen on screen in other ways, and we are fully on this ride with Lily, as she said:
I think you feel that in every decision we made, you know, whether it be music or whether it be color or whether it be narrative, it was all to let you into Lily's feelings and her journey.
It's so rewarding to see all of this culminate into a gorgeous work of filmmaking that tells Lily's story in a way that gives audiences a clear and intimate understanding of her. Now, critics are praising Lively’s performance – despite her being cast as Lily getting backlash at first – and I know I was deeply moved by how Lily’s story is told in the film.
Overall, It Ends With Us the film is a faithful adaptation of the novel, and it 100% does Lily’s inner monologue justice by handling the protagonist’s story in such a rewarding and important way. To see this project for yourself, you can catch it in theaters now.
