The contentious relationship between filmmaker and co-star Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively of “It Ends with Us” has been addressed extensively. Helming a film on the nuanced topic of domestic violence can hinder the mutual relationship between the movie’s ensemble and the crew,as in a recent interview, Baldoni discussed the cooperative atmosphere he aimed to cultivate on set with Entertainment Weekly. Collaborating with screenwriter Christy Hall to bring to life Colleen Hoover’s bestseller, he asserted that his aims were always to safeguard the characters being examined by the specifically critical audience, especially Lively’s character Lily Bloom.
The primary protagonist Lily in the novel version of “It Ends with Us” is quick to see that every violent act her husband Ryle commits against her is abuse. However, these acts are portrayed in the movie as less purposeful and more like accidents or mishaps. Lily doesn’t truly realize the gravity of the circumstance until Ryle attempts to rape her.
“This is a movie about love, and about hope, and about empowerment, and the ability that each of us have to make a different choice,” Baldoni remarked . “In thinking about that, and what the theme of this movie is about, and what this book is about, I had to find a way to make sure that we were never judging Lily, and we were protecting her character arc, at all costs.”
Baldoni claims he believed viewers shouldn’t be allowed to believe Lily condones Ryle’s physical abuse in any way. He collaborated with Hall to portray the character as someone who needs to confront both the abuse she is currently experiencing and her complicated past.
“Showing the abuse the way that it’s shown in the book, that early on, by the time Atlas shows up on the screen, there wouldn’t be a person in the audience that doesn’t judge her for not leaving with him right away,” Baldoni stated. “And we couldn’t let that happen. I said this from the very beginning, before we ever made the movie: The movie has to be designed in a way where there is a portion of the audience that — even if they know what happened, even now knowing what Ryle did to her — would want her to forgive him. Otherwise, the choice she makes at the end doesn’t hit as hard, doesn’t land, and isn’t as difficult of a choice.”
“It Ends with Us” is in theatres now as it managed to secure a whopping on its opening weekend.