SPOILER ALERT: This piece contains spoilers for the entirety of It Ends With Us.
Christy Hall’s script for Sony’s It Ends With Us, adapted from the novel by Colleen Hoover, changes a few things from Hoover’s story structure, as is expected in a two-hour film versus a 300-plus page book. Edits, changes and additions to the dialogue, plot and specifics of the story may be obvious to devout readers of Hoover’s novel while others are more subtle.
A smaller change in a momentous scene involves how Lily (Blake Lively) recognizes Atlas (Branden Sklenar) at his Boston restaurant. Instead of looking him in the eye, she first notices his hand as he bends down to take an order from her and her mom, and its the familiar scar on his knuckles that tip her off as to who he is.
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For more changes made between the book and the big screen, read on.
Root (Bib’s in the book):
In the film, Atlas’ restaurant is called Root, and this name change is further explained when he makes it into a ranking list in a magazine. He explained the meaning (the specifics kept secret) behind the name with a story that is very obviously about Lily to those who know the details.
In the book, the details still spell out disaster for Lily at the hands of Ryle, because Atlas’ restaurant, Bib’s stands for ‘Better in Boston,’ and Lily has a magnet on her refrigerator that says this slogan. Ryle connects the dots in the book that Atlas must have given Lily the magnet. In the film, Lily once told Ryle that the roots are the strongest parts of the plant, and she compared him to an oak tree because he could take care of himself. He later carved her an open heart out of oak wood, and she got a tattoo of the “hollow heart.”
The third abuse scene:
The third instance of Ryle’s violence toward Lily was changed slightly for the film scene, but it’s still devastating. It stems from the story mentioned above, because up until then, Lily’s tattoo was one of Ryle’s favorite parts of him, but when he learns of the meaning, he bites her there, leaving deep teeth marks in her skin in the book and film. In the film, it mostly stops here after Ryle tries to “show Lily
Alyssa tells Lily truth about Emerson/gun story:
It’s Ryle’s sister Alyssa (Jenny Slate) who ends up revealing the truth about their dead older brother Emerson, who Ryle accidentally shot with a gun when they were younger. In the book, Ryle comes clean to Lily about this after he had initially framed the story as something he experienced as an observer of the little boy who died, as his surgeon. Lily originally wondered what something like that would do to the boy that lived, and Ryal said that it would mess him up for life.
When Lily tells Ryle about her abusive father:
In the book, Lily tells Ryle that her dad was abusive the night that they meet on the rooftop, but in the film, this information doesn’t come out until after the first instance of abuse on Ryle’s part. Lily mentions it after Atlas and Ryle had a tiff at the restaurant when Atlas saw Lily’s black eye and Ryle’s bandaged hand.
Ryle’s proposal:
Ryle’s speedy proposal mostly matches what happened in the book, except it takes place in the hospital right after Allysa has had baby Rylee (who also doesn’t get named in the book). In the book. Allysa prompts the proposal and Ryle overhears Lily saying she would marry him that night. Marshall also officiates in the movie, while in the book, they go to Vegas to get married. It doesn’t seem like Lily’s mom makes it to the wedding.
Ryle’s parents:
Ryle’s and Allysa’s parents don’t make an appearance in the film. In the book, Ryle proposes to Lily during one of their visits, and they attend the wedding in Vegas. Ryle does still meet Lily’s mother (Amy Morton) at Atlas’ restaurant, Root.
No Atlas’ friends while Lily stays at his house
Ending scene:
The final scene of the film is tweaked slightly from the book, as Lily has a more grown up Emerson with her, and she runs into Atlas at a farmer’s market. It doesn’t seem like she is taking Emmie to Ryle for his custody time like she is in the books, and therefore, she doesn’t run back to Atlas after dropping Lily off to tell him Emmie’s middle name is Dory. The Finding Nemo theme is more subtle throughout the film, but there are allusions like a big clownfish stuffed animal in Lily’s nursery for baby Emmie. Atlas also doesn’t mention whether he has opened another restaurant (which he does in the books).There is still the hope that they could get together later on though as when Blake Lively’s Lily asks Atlas if he’s with anyone, he says “Not yet.”
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