The romantic drama “Just One More Time” is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover. But on screen, some things are different compared to the original. How much does this affect the plot? Just one more time: We show the differences between the book and the film.
The novel “Just One More Time” by Colleen Hoover was published in the USA in 2016 under the original title “It Ends With Us” – and became a huge success. The book sold over four million copies worldwide and was on the New York Times bestseller list for 160 weeks.
In July 2022, the author announced the adaptation for the cinema. It was directed by Justin Baldoni, who also took on one of the main roles. The film has been running in cinemas, including in Germany, since August 2024.
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The film adaptation largely follows the novel. Both tell the story of Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), who wants to change her life and moves to Boston. There she opens a flower shop. By chance she meets the charming neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni) and the two fall in love.
But it gradually becomes clear that Ryle has dark sides and is not the dream man he first appeared to be. Then Lily’s first boyfriend Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar) reappears in her life – and Lily has to face her past. Nevertheless, there are some differences between the book and the film in Just Once.
Danger: If you don’t know the story, you should not read any further. The following text contains spoilers.
The most important things in brief
- Lily is in the movie older than in the book and has more life experience.
- Die Representation of Ryle’s violence and Lily’s reaction differs between the book and the movie.
- Some minor characters and details, such as Atlas’ Restaurantnamewere changed in the film.
- The ending remains similar, but the film adds a additional scene for emotional closure.
Lily is much older in the film than in the book
A key difference between the book Just One More Time and the film adaptation is the age of the main characters. Lily Bloom is significantly older on screen than in the novel. In the original, she is 23 years old when she opens her flower shop and meets Ryle. In the film, however, she is in her mid-30s. This is partly due to the age of Lily actress Blake Lively: she is 36 years old.
Director Baldoni and author Hoover had, according to USA Today explains that Lily should be someone with more life experience in the film adaptation to make the story more believable. Ryle, who is 30 in the book, also ages a few years in the film. After all, he works as a successful neurosurgeon – which is much less likely when he is younger.
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Just one more time: How Lily perceives the violence in the book and the film
If you’ve read the book Just One More Time, you’ll notice something in the cinema: the portrayal of Kyle’s violence and Lily’s reaction to it seem different. The film reflects her insecurity, using editing and camera angles to do so. Did Ryle mean to hit her after he burned his hand, or was it more of an accident?
Did Lily slip on the stairs or did Ryle push her? The main character is conflicted about this, she doubts her own perception. It is only in the last third of the film that we see in a disturbing flashback scene what really happened – and how violent Ryle is.
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In the book, however, Lily knows exactly what Ryle is doing to her. After each horrific incident, she tells him that she will leave him if he doesn’t stop. After he pushes her down the stairs, she actually draws a line under it.
She returns to him anyway because she believes that his traumatic experiences could change him and that he might still change for the better. It is only when Ryle later tries to rape her that Lily decides that she has had enough.
The film also portrays the violence that Lily witnessed as a child somewhat differently. In the book, Lily and Atlas watch her father beat her mother. In the film adaptation, Lily only tells her boyfriend what she saw later.
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Why is Atlas’ restaurant called something different in the movie than in the book?
The filmmakers have adapted a few small details of the story. In the book, Atlas’ restaurant is called “Bib’s,” which stands for “Better in Boston.” In the book, Lily has a refrigerator magnet with the phrase on it. The two had talked about it as teenagers and the story was important to both of them.
The fact that Atlas named his restaurant after it shows their connection. But there was not enough time in the film to incorporate this element, said author Hoover at E-Online.
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In the film, the restaurant is called “Roots.” This also goes back to a conversation between Atlas and Lily that can be seen on screen. “You get the same feeling as in the book,” explained the author.
Just one more time: Which characters from the book are not seen in the film?
Some minor characters from the book were omitted from the film. These include Lily’s gay best friend Devin, who works with her at a marketing company. In one scene in the book, Devin pretended to be Lily’s partner to make Ryle jealous. Also omitted is Lucy, Lily’s former roommate who later works in her flower shop.
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Ryle’s parents also play no role in the film. In the novel, Lily meets them and Ryle proposes to her in their apartment. In the film drama, this happens in the hospital after his sister Lyssa has had a baby.
Do the book and the film have the same ending?
Only once does the story end with Lily separating from Ryle, both in the book and in the film. She doesn’t want to put her daughter through what she herself experienced as a child: growing up in a family where the father abuses the mother. In each case, the main character gets back together with her old love Atlas.
For author Colleen Hoover, it was important that the film kept her ending “almost word for word,” as she told E-Online. It was a “very faithful adaptation.”
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But there are still a few differences: In the book, Lily meets Atlas by chance on the street shortly after leaving Ryle. Her daughter Emerson is still a baby. In the film, the two meet much later at a farmer’s market – Emerson is already a toddler.
The film also adds a scene in which Lily and her mother Jenny (Amy Morton) can come to terms with the past. They visit their father’s grave with Emerson. Lily places the blank pages of her eulogy on the gravestone. During her father’s funeral, she was unable to find any positive words for him.
Then Jenny, Lily and Emerson hug each other. This moment of closeness between three generations symbolizes a new beginning, with which they leave violence and trauma behind and look to the future.
