Skip to content
  • About us
  • Music
  • Celebrities
  • TV and Movies
  • Fashion
  • Entertaiment
  • Life Style
  • Travel and Health
Style Focus

Style Focus

  • About us
  • Music
  • Celebrities
  • TV and Movies
  • Fashion
  • Entertaiment
  • Life Style
  • Travel and Health
  • Toggle search form
  • New music this week (part 2): Songs from Miriana Conte, Katarsis, Jeangu Macrooy and more Uncategorised
  • United Kingdom at Junior Eurovision 2023: STAND UNIQU3 with “Back To Life” Uncategorised
  • Chris Martin surprises fans with impromptu pub gig Uncategorised
  • Ukraine: Jamala, Serhiy Tanchynets and Kateryna Pavlenko to form Vidbir 2025 jury following public voting Uncategorised
  • Everything we know about Quentin Tarantino’s 10th and final film Uncategorised
  • Martin Green named Director of the Eurovision Song Contest Uncategorised
  • Sydney Sweeney Wears Angelina Jolie’s 2004 Oscars Dress to Vanity Fair After-Party Uncategorised
  • What difference will marriage make to Taylor Swift’s music? Uncategorised

Blake Lively: My domestic abuse film is tragic and inspiring

Posted on 9 August 2024 By Admin No Comments on Blake Lively: My domestic abuse film is tragic and inspiring

Blake Lively: My domestic abuse film is tragic and inspiring

Blake Lively
Blake Lively attended the London premiere of It Ends With Us on Thursday

For many young woman, there have been very few film adaptations as hotly anticipated as Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us.

The 2016 book became an internet sensation a few years ago – it took TikTok’s #booktok by storm with more than one billion tags and sold 20 million copies weeks as the number one New York Times bestseller.

While on the surface the film appears to be a standard romantic comedy, it comes with a dark twist.

Starring Gossip Girl star Blake Lively, it tells the story of Lily Bloom, a young woman who grew up witnessing domestic abuse and winds up in the same position years later.

Lily, a florist in Boston, navigates a complicated love triangle between her charming but abusive boyfriend Ryle Kincaid – played by Jane the Virgin’s Justin Baldoni – and her compassionate first love, Atlas Corrigan, acted by Brandon Sklenar.

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni
Lively’s character falls in love with Ryle, a troubled neurosurgeon who eventually becomes abusive

Speaking to the BBC at the premiere, Lively says she felt the “responsibility of servicing the people that care so much about the source material”.

“I really feel like we delivered a story that’s emotional and it’s fun, but also funny, painful, scary, tragic and it’s inspiring and that’s what life is, it’s every single colour,” says the 36-year-old actress who is married to fellow actor Ryan Reynolds.

But the film has been met with some criticism that it romanticises domestic abuse.

A two-star review from The Telegraph called it a “queasy drama” that “repackages domestic violence as slick romance”.

Tim Robey added that the film “splices abuse and glossy courtship in the big city to deeply dubious effects”.

Hoover has explained that her inspiration for the novel was the domestic abuse that her mother endured.

Colleen Hoover
In 2022 Colleen Hoover published It Starts With Us, a sequel to her first book

Rebecca Goshawk, who works for Solace, a charity that supports victims of gender-based violence, says she is worried about how the film may have covered domestic abuse.

“Film can be a really powerful way for young people to see examples of domestic abuse and educate them about healthy relationships,” she explains.

“But when it’s done poorly it’s really worrying as it could romanticise unhealthy relationships and young people don’t have the knowledge to see what is dangerous behaviour.”

Lively, who is also credited as a producer, tells the BBC that she is adamant the film has been made sensitively and “with lots of empathy”.

“Lily is a survivor and a victim and while they are huge labels, these are not her identity. She defines herself and I think it’s deeply empowering that no one else can define you.”

Fans at the premiere also say that they don’t think the book or film romanticise unhealthy relationships.

Taylor Lopez, 19, says that showing the story from the perspective of a victim who grapples with the difficult decision of loving someone but also needing to leave them is done really well.

Her friends Phoebe and Celina agree, adding that the film “perfectly comes together” and “the feelings and experiences of the characters are so relatable”.

They all also think that Lively, who rose to fame in the 2000s playing Serena van der Woodsen in Gossip Girl, is the perfect casting.

“In the book Lily is a 23-year-old and so people have complained about her casting but actually she’s the perfect choice,” Celina explains.

Brandon Sklenar
Brandon Sklenar plays Atlas, Lily Bloom’s first love

‘Pretty Woman meets 50 Shades of Grey’

However, the critics have not been so favourable, awarding the film a mix of two and three stars.

The Independent said the film was “sincere but completely ludicrous” in a two-star review and added that Lively’s character “does not register as a real person, so, it’s odd, and a little uncomfortable, to see her burdened with such raw trauma”.

The Guardian acknowledged that there were “expected clichés, but there are also many that are mercifully avoided too, the story not always conforming to type”.

Justin Baldoni
Justin Baldoni was one of the directors of the film

A four-star review from The Times was one of the most favourable and described the film as “Pretty Woman meets 50 Shades of Grey” and a “dizzy, guilty pleasure”.

“Lively is perfectly cast and has that combination of self-consciousness, determination and doubt that is wholly fitting for a character yearning to break free from the coercive clutches of those around her,” Kevin Maher wrote.

Adaptations of popular books, particularly those read by younger women such as Twilight and The Hunger Games, have become blockbuster hits.

Hoover and Lively’s loyal and impressively large fan bases may help It Ends With Us on to that list, despite the lukewarm response by the critics.

Adblock test (Why?)

Uncategorised

Post navigation

Previous Post: Celebrity Jeweler Kyle Chan Reveals Why Taylor Swift and Beyonce Love His Unique Pieces That Tell a Story
Next Post: BBC asks Huw Edwards to return more than £200,000

Related Posts

  • Theo Evan is Cyprus’ Eurovision 2025 singer Uncategorised
  • Theatre school founder Sylvia Young dies aged 86 Uncategorised
  • Kristen Stewart and Fiancée Dylan Meyer Attend Pre-Oscars Party Together in Style Uncategorised
  • ‘It’s like I’ve lost someone from my family’ – Liam Payne fans gather for vigils Uncategorised
  • New music this week: Songs from Nemo, Joost, Lara Fabian and more Uncategorised
  • Listen: Spain Reveals Benidorm Fest 2025 Songs Uncategorised

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Luxembourgish broadcaster RTL reveal the finalists for the Luxembourg Song Contest
  • Backstabbing, dirty work and an iconic exit speech in Celebrity Traitors
  • Kerry Katona on coping with fame after Atomic Kitten
  • From Georgia to Dubai: Paris Fashion Days and the Paris Fashion Awards Honored Visionary Designers Worldwide
  • The Power of Fashion: Milan Fashion Days Unites Global Talent on One Iconic Stage

Recent Comments

No comments to show.

Archives

  • October 2025
  • September 2025
  • August 2025
  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • March 2022
  • November 2008

Categories

  • announcements
  • Events
  • Fashion
  • music
  • Persons
  • Uncategorised
  • Celeb-Favorite MOTHER Marks 10 Years of the Iconic Hustler Jeans — in Style Fashion
  • I worry about Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s fame impacting their kids, says Tina Knowles Uncategorised
  • YALLA — «Останній online»: відео на хіт, з яким розставатися буде не так боляче
    YALLA – “The Last Online”: video for the hit, which will not be so painful to part with music
  • Kneecap defiant at first major gig since terror charge Uncategorised
  • North Macedonia: MRT’s proposed 2024 budget hints at possible Eurovision return Uncategorised
  • Michael Caine confirms retirement from acting after The Great Escaper Uncategorised
  • 7 things we spotted in the trailer for Joker 2 Uncategorised
  • What to expect from the Emmys and how to watch the ceremony Uncategorised

Copyright © Style Focus

Powered by PressBook News WordPress theme