Summary
- It Ends with Us has debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a Rotten score of 56%.
- This score comes from 27 different reviews.
- It remains to be seen what audiences think of the controversial romance adaptation.
The controversial Blake Lively adaptation It Ends with Us has debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with mixed reviews. The movie, which is adapted from the 2016 Colleen Hoover novel of the same name opposite director Justin Baldoni as a complicated couple whose romance reminds her of her parents. The cast also includes Brandon Sklenar, Jenny Slate, and Hasan Minhaj. The It Ends with Us controversy stems from the book’s depiction of an abusive relationship, which has been criticized by some as a romanticization of the subject.
Rotten Tomatoes has now aggregated an official score for It Ends with Us out of 27 different critics’ reviews ahead of the movie’s opening weekend in U.S. theaters. While the score could fluctuate as more reviews are added, at the time of writing it has debuted on the platform with a Rotten score of 56%. However, this shows that critics are deeply mixed on the project, as it could easily cross the 60% line, past which a movie is considered Fresh.
It Ends With Us Could Work Better With Audiences Than Critics
Blake Lively’s 2015 Romance Sets A Rotten Tomatoes Precedent
While the controversy surrounding the It Ends with Us release figures into many of its reviews, both positive and negative, the Rotten Tomatoes score seems to be responding primarily to the filmmaking aspects of the movie rather than the social issues at the core of its storytelling. While there is general praise for Blake Lively’s performance, the movie has been criticized for being overstuffed and melodramatic. However, a previous romance movie featuring Lively has shown that audiences could end up liking the movie considerably more than critics.
In 2015, the It Ends with Us star played the title role in The Age of Adaline, a science fiction romance that followed the life of a woman who stopped aging after she turned twenty-nine. Out of a total of 171 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie eventually settled at a Rotten score of 55%, just one point shy of the score of Lively’s 2024 romance adaptation. However, general audiences disagreed with critics about Adaline, giving the movie a firmly Fresh audience score of 67%, a full 12% increase on the critical consensus.
The Age of Adaline was also a commercial success, grossing $65.7 million in theaters against a budget of $25 million.
Audiences could similarly uplift It Ends with Us when the time comes for users to share their reviews of the movie. It remains to be seen if the controversy around the novel and the movie affects the audience score, as there was not a similar issue surrounding The Age of Adaline ahead of its release. However, if the precedent holds true, there could be hope for the new movie’s theatrical performance in spite of the controversy and its mixed reviews.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
It Ends With Us
Based on Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel, It Ends With Us is a drama-romance film directed by Justin Baldoni. The film follows a recent college graduate named Lily, who meets a man named Ryle and falls in love with him. However, a traumatic incident compounded with her former high-school sweetheart re-entering her life complicates her plans.
- Director
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Justin Baldoni
- Release Date
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August 9, 2024
- Studio(s)
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Columbia Pictures
, Wayfarer Studios
, Saks Picture Company - Distributor(s)
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Sony Pictures Releasing
- Writers
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Christy Hall
, Colleen Hoover - Cast
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Blake Lively
, Justin Baldoni
, Brandon Sklenar
, Jenny Slate
, Hasan Minhaj - Runtime
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130 Minutes
