Three stars out of four
Fans should be ready to cry: Reminders of Him (in theaters March 13) will hit you right in the gut. How could it not?
Based on the 2022 bestselling novel of the same name — by It Ends With Us and Regretting You author Colleen Hoover — the film follows Kenna (Maika Monroe), a mom trying to rebuild her life after making a deadly mistake that killed her boyfriend Scotty (the dreamy Rudy Pankow).
Fresh out of prison and estranged from the daughter she gave birth to while incarcerated, Kenna takes tentative first steps to begin again in a small town that hasn’t yet forgiven her: trying to find a job with a felony on her record; reconnect with her child; and repair shattered relationships, including with Scotty’s parents, tricky roles sensitively played by TV icons Bradley Whitford (The West Wing) and Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls).
Any Hoover adaptation will flirt with melodrama (cue the rain-soaked confessions and precocious little kid). What makes this one the best of the novelist’s big-screen installments so far is its admirable restraint. There’s a steamy romance — with hunky local bartender slash retired NFL player Ledger (Tyriq Withers), but just as much of the film is centered on the quiet work of making amends. It’s earnest, straightforward and deceptively simple; the kind of quietly inspirational story that critics often brush aside but viewers love to watch again and again. This is a worthy addition to that canon of emotional catharsis.
Hoover heads up an all-female production team, co-adapting her own book alongside Lauren Levine. That backbone gives the film, directed by Vanessa Caswill, a refreshing, straightforward clarity. Monroe is excellent, grounding Kenna’s fierce maternal longing in understated details. Even a glorified cameo from country star Lainey Wilson adds a warm, lived-in vibe. Yes, you’ll cry. But as with all good redemption stories, viewers will also leave hopeful about future possibilities.
What’s better than that?
