The film “Reminders of Him” is based on the novel by New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover. Hoover has grown very popular in recent years with her various young adult romance books. In the last couple of years, she has been adapting some of them into films. Books that have been adapted into films so far are “It Ends With Us” and “Regretting You,” each being a major success. “Reminders of Him” will be her third book to be adapted into a movie, and there is expected to be another, “Verity,” released in October of this year.
“Reminders of Him” is about the story of Kenna Rowan, who, after serving seven years in prison for an unbearable mistake, returns to the town where it all went wrong. She hopes to rebuild her life and be reunited with her daughter. Even with her daughter’s grandparents having full custody of her and refusing to let Kenna see her, Kenna keeps working to someday be forgiven for her terrible mistake. As she is starting to turn her life around, she finds unexpected compassion for a local bar owner, Ledger Ward. If anyone were to find out about how close they were, both would risk losing the trust of everyone around them.
The characters for “Reminders of Him” were each cast perfectly and did an incredible job portraying the personalities of the characters they were given. Maika Monroe plays the role of the main character, Kenna Rowan. Monroe is mostly known for playing roles in various horror films. Although she is not among the most popular actresses, she does an amazing job, and I can’t imagine anyone else who could have done it better. The other main character, Ledger Ward, is played by actor Tyriq Withers. Withers has not starred in many films and is also not among the most popular of actors. “Reminders of Him” is his first big role in a movie. He accurately portrayed the role of Ledger, even though he does not look exactly how I pictured him as I read the book. When I first saw the casting for this movie, I was shocked because I had not heard of the two main characters, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well they portrayed their characters.
The movie lived up to all its expectations. It was a sad, beautiful, tragic love story that all unfolded perfectly. There were some gut-wrenching moments and others that were hopeful and warm. As I was watching the film, I was experiencing all the emotions and felt as if my heart were breaking with Kenna’s as she relived the moments of disaster, all those years ago. But I also felt the emotions of love and hope when she got closer to Ledger, and she realized that she might still have the chance to be involved in her daughter Diem’s life. I honestly don’t think there is anything I would change about this film. As I was watching the events play out, all I could think was that it was exactly how I imagined it as I was reading the book.
There was a lot to learn from this film. The most important lessons to take away are that there are always two sides to every story and that it is important to give people second chances despite what they have done in their past.
I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves a love story with an intense storyline and is about a couple whose path to finding their happily ever after isn’t an easy one. I would mainly recommend this movie to teenage girls and women because it is a romance, but I do think men would like it too. It is rated PG-13, so I wouldn’t recommend watching it if you are under that age, because the movie can be intense and not appropriate for those of a younger age.
