What happens at the end of It Ends with Us? The book vs the movie
Colleen Hoover's 2016 novel and the 2024 film starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni both end in the same place emotionally — but the final scene looks noticeably different depending on which version you experienced.
If you've read one and watched the other (or neither, and you just want to know), here's exactly how each version closes and where they diverge.
The ending they share
In both versions, Lily has married neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid and is pregnant with their daughter when his pattern of violence reaches a breaking point. After the worst attack yet, Lily ends up in hospital — where she has a conversation with Ryle that changes everything.
She asks him to imagine that everything he's done to her is instead happening to their daughter. What would he want that little girl to do?
Ryle breaks down. Lily tells him their marriage is over. The title is the answer: the cycle of abuse that Lily watched her mother endure ends with her.
How the book ends
Lily is walking her toddler Emerson to see Ryle for his custody time when she runs into Atlas Corrigan — her childhood first love — on the street. He looks at the baby.
No kiss. No grand declaration. Just two people standing in front of each other with a future that finally feels possible.
Lily later tells Atlas that Emerson's middle name is Dory — a callback to the Finding Nemo quote that sustained them both as teenagers.
How the movie ends
The film pushes further. Lily is alone at a farmers' market when she spots Atlas (Brandon Sklenar). They talk. He tells her he isn't seeing anyone — "Not yet." The scene ends with a kiss. The implication is clear: they're together, or about to be.
It's a warmer, more definitive conclusion. Director Baldoni described his aim as protecting the book's emotional core while giving cinema audiences a more visually resolved ending.
The differences that matter
- Ages — Lily is 23 in the book, mid-thirties in the film. Hoover herself called the original age unrealistic, given Ryle's career.
- Atlas's restaurant — Bib's in the book (short for "Better in Boston"), Root in the film, referencing a different childhood conversation about plants.
- The journals — in the novel, Lily writes letters to Ellen DeGeneres. In the film, the DeGeneres connection is nearly invisible — likely due to timing and the host's public controversies.
- Lily's mother — plays a larger role in the novel, explicitly telling Lily not to repeat her mistakes. Her screen time is minimal by comparison.
The emotional truth is identical in both: Lily breaks the cycle. The book trusts the reader to feel the hope in a chance street encounter. The film makes sure you see it sealed with a kiss.