Naman Shrestha
Starring Blake Lively as Lily Bloom, ‘It Ends with Us’ is an adaptation of the eponymous 2016 novel written by Colleen Hoover. Brought to life under the direction of Justin Baldoni, the intense romantic drama movie follows Lily Bloom, an ambitious woman with a traumatic childhood. With dreams of opening her own business, she relocates to Boston and starts afresh. Focused on finding success with her florist shop, she also finds love in Ryle Kincaid, a handsome neurosurgeon. However, as Lily gets to know Ryle better and falls head over heels in love with him, she notices a familiar pattern of abuse, something that she grew up seeing in her parents’ volatile relationship.
With the sudden re-entry of her first love, Atlas Corrigan, into her life, the relationship between Lily and Ryle begins to get compromised. Now, she must make the tough choice if she wants to have a better future and life. Besides Blake Lively, the film also stars Justin Baldoni, Brandon Sklenar, Jenny Slate, and Hasan Minhaj, all of whom capture the viewers’ attention through their impressive onscreen performances. Most of the story unfolds in Boston, Massachusetts, but questions about the real-life locations are bound to be raised.
It Ends with Us Filming Locations
Several sites across New Jersey, including Hoboken and Jersey City, served as the primary production locations for ‘It Ends with Us.’ Moreover, significant chunks of the drama film were also filmed in New York City, New York; Boston, Massachusetts; and Los Angeles, California. Although the principal production commenced in early May 2023, it had to be halted temporarily due to the 2023 WGA strike the following month. After various months of delay, the cast and crew returned to the sets in early January 2024 and resumed shooting.
Hoboken, New Jersey
First and foremost, the many scenes featuring the interiors and exteriors of the namesake flower shop of Lily Bloom, the protagonist in the movie portrayed by Blake Lively, were lensed in and around Field Colony at 1001 Bloomfield Street in Hoboken. As per the reports, the production team set up camp in the art studio for about six weeks and turned it into a cafe for rent before transforming it into a florist shop. Other establishments on Bloomfield Street are regularly featured in the backdrop, such as the Story Residential at 1000 Bloomfield Street.
Jersey City, New Jersey
Many pivotal sequences for ‘It Ends with Us’ were also taped in Jersey City, the county seat of New Jersey’s Hudson County. The filming unit took over the South House restaurant at 149 Newark Avenue to shoot the scene where Lily reunites with her childhood love interest, Atlas. They also turned several spots of the Newport neighborhood into film sets, including the Waterfront. Furthermore, the Van Vorst Park Farmers’ Market on York Street makes an appearance in the Blake Lively starter.
it ends with us filming in jersey city!!! major girl crushing rn @blakelively #itendswithus pic.twitter.com/Fo3QffPcoX
— lys (@alyssa_sidoti) January 13, 2024
The director and actor, Justin Baldoni, admitted that filming the scenes showcasing gender-based violence was quite challenging for him. He told The Hollywood Reporter, “There were a lot of times where I would have to go privately into a room and just cry or shake it out and try to get him out of me and that energy out of me because it’s too real. There are too many people that are the real-life Lily Blooms of the world that have to deal with that every single day, and I wanted it to be as real as possible and yet it was very hard to shoot those scenes.”
He gave due credit to the intimacy coordinator, stunt coordinator, and her co-star Blake Lively, all of whom helped him portray Ryle. Justin added, “In those moments, to be perfectly frank, I really wasn’t the director, it was those women who were in charge. From the beginning, I wanted all the intimate scenes to be from a female gaze and I never wanted my bias to potentially interject and go into the film. So I kind of stepped back and felt all the things and allowed myself to do the work and shook it off as best I could.”
In an interview with Bazaar India, Justin also highlighted the importance of having intimacy and stunt coordinators on set. He explained, “When you shoot a film like this, as an actor, all this tension lives in your body…Having them on set and always in my eyeline was invaluable because, at any point, I could look to one of them for a thumbs up, or we’d work on another approach together. They were such an important and integral part of our process.”
Other Locations in New Jersey
For shooting purposes, the cast and crew of ‘It Ends with Us’ also traveled to other locations across New Jersey, including the cities of Plainfield and Newark and the townships of Harding, Weehawken, and Parsippany-Troy Hills. They were also spotted shooting a cemetery scene in mid-May 2023 in Fair Mount Cemetery at 233 Hillside Avenue in Chatham.
Boston, Massachusetts
Since the story of Lily and Ryle is set in Boston, Massachusetts, the director and his team also shot additional portions on location. Several attractions and buildings associated with the Bean Town feature in a number of establishing shots. For instance, you can spot the Longfellow Bridge, which was constructed in 1906, and the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, which was opened in 2003.
Other Filming Locations
Although major production locations, New York City and Los Angeles, the two vibrant cities with hustle and bustle, seemingly appear in ‘It Ends with Us’ for a relatively shorter time. While Blake Lively and the rest of the cast were spotted recording a couple of scenes on one of the streets of the Big Apple in May 2023, they reportedly shot a few portions in the City of Angels in February 2024.
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