Another day, another Colleen Hoover adaptation! Is she becoming the new Nicholas Sparks? Hot on the heels of It Ends With Us and Regretting You, Reminders of Him delivers a modern love story tightly woven into compelling drama. This entry from director Vanessa Caswill (Love at First Sight) is the best of the three Hoover adaptations. The key, as expected, is the chemistry between leads Maika Monroe and Tyriq Withers. The sharpness in the writing could have only emerged from the pen of Hoover herself. Shades of moral grayness and a sweeping crowd-pleasing romance make Reminders of Him a satisfying, surprisingly emotional film. Now, it comes to home video release with a smattering of extra features—and all the same heart in delving into forgiveness and grief.
Maika Monroe plays Kenna, freshly released from prison and desperate to see her five-year-old daughter for the first time. Kenna’s complicated past does not make this easy. Kenna appears at least partially responsible for the death of Scotty (Rudy Pankow), her boyfriend, and his parents now have sole custody of Kenna’s daughter. The weight of Scotty’s loss hangs over Kenna throughout the film like a dark cloud. She cannot bear to face the life she left behind. Monroe does a terrific job as the central focus, shifting the feel to that of a character study for Kenna. The layers of her Kenna unfold further as we get deeper into the story. By the time the truth of her past is revealed, the audience is already fully on her side.
An unexpected romance begins to form between Scotty’s best friend, Ledger, played by Tyriq Withers from the I Know What You Did Last Summer requel and last year’s Him. At first, Ledger hits on Kenna before realizing who she is, then he hates her, then it gets more complicated when he realizes she’s not quite so black and white. It’s not exactly enemies to lovers, but the sweet romance that develops between the two was easy to buy into. They have great chemistry together. An interesting yin/yang is discovered in the way Ledger and Kenna process their own unique sets of grief in losing Scotty. Director Vanessa Castile seems really good at finding what works between two charismatic actors. She also frames their yearning through railings, and strengthens the vibes with gorgeous landscapes.
Special features on the disc immensely help in padding out this adorable world. These include: three deleted scenes, and three separate featurettes to delve into characterizations, using Colleen Hoover as a cheat code when she would be present on set, and the stunning on-location filming. The centerpiece is the full-length commentary from director Vanessa Caswill. At first, it did not seem she would dig very deep in her assessment of the film, but as it gets deeper, Caswill’s various insights add a lot to understanding the depth to Reminders of Him. She delves into Kenna’s wardrobe, the team’s mission to stay quite close to the tone and themes of the original text, surprising scenes filmed in one shot that were relatively seamless, easter eggs for book fans, and briefly dwelling on Tyriq’s fake tattoos. Her devotion to blocking out and adapting iconic sequences shows that she has a deep affection for the source material despite having not read the book until being sent the script.
There are a smattering of somewhat clunky flashbacks scenes, but that’s a minor issue rather than one that overtakes the story being told. It would have been easy for Kenna to come off as unlikable, but Monroe sells it all through the near-obsession she has with finally being reunited with her daughter. As Diem, Zoe Kosovic could not possibly be any cuter. This is a tearjerker romance, so naturally, the theater was filled with full on sobs. At home, the only one crying was coming from me. It’s hard not to get emotional near the end too: there’s a certain power in Hoover’s prose that easily adapt for the big (or small!) screen. With two excellent leads and a cutesy story, Reminders of Him is easy to recommend.
Embrace every one of the Reminders of Him, now on Blu-Ray.
