The new movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-seller ‘It Ends with Us’ has sparked controversy. Viewers on TikTok are criticising the film’s press tour for downplaying its focus on domestic violence, leaving many who hadn’t read the book blindsided by its major plot twists.
Tara Handley, 19, said she was unaware of what she was getting into when she saw the film, as the cast members had portrayed it as a simple romance movie during the press tour, describing it as a film “for you to watch with the girls,” Miss Handley said.
“It started off as this beautiful love story and then halfway through I was almost in disbelief by what was happening, when it began to turn really dark and exploring sensitive topics like domestic violence, it honestly started to make me quite uncomfortable.”
According to the World Health Organisation, over a quarter of women aged 15-49 who have been in a relationship have experienced physical, sexual, or both forms of violence by their intimate partner at least once since the age of 15.
Many TikTok users were concerned that some leading cast members did not clarify that the movie contained many confronting scenes, arguing that this oversight could be potentially harmful to those who have experienced domestic or intimate partner violence.
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Director and one of the main leads, Justin Baldoni, was among the cast members who were very vocal about the sensitive topics of domestic violence. In an interview with AP News, he stated that he intended to make a film that could “truly impact and make a difference in the lives of women,” Baldoni said.
“We live in a culture where, unfortunately, too many things are glorified and if anybody has had that real life experience, I can imagine how hard it would be to imagine their experience being in a romance novel.”
This remark has left TikTok users and viewers disappointed with the film’s other mainstream leads, who have failed to vocalise the film’s prevalent issue of domestic and intimate partner violence.
