In author Colleen Hoover ’s best-selling novel It Ends With Us , the main character Lilly Blossom Bloom is certain of a few things. One, her name is ridiculous, especially since her dream is to open a flower shop. Two, no relationship has come close to what she experienced at age 15 with her first love, Atlas Corrigan.
And three, the long-held belief she’s professed since childhood — that she’ll never stay in a physically and emotionally abusive relationship like the one her mother endured — is much easier said than done. With 8 million copies sold , It Ends With Us swaddles a central premise about the insidious nature of domestic abuse into a glitzy, trope-heavy, and often ridiculous love-triangle romance. So of course, movie executives thought it would make a killer movie.
Starring Blake Lively , Justin Baldoni , and Brandon Sklena r, the film has spent the past six months preparing to take over box offices with an Aug. 9 premiere. This means the actors have gone on a press blitz, a campaign heavily promoting the movie to as wide an audience as possible.
There’s been promotional material about Lively as the next great movie star. Shiny trailers have included a popular Taylor Swift ballad. There was even a Century City mall pop-up experience for fans, recreating Lily’s kooky flower shop as a photo opportunity.
But all this glossy, marketing-heavy treatment is proving is that Hollywood hasn’t found a respectful way to market movies about domestic violence. Eve.