Imagine that you’ve fallen in love and life is just the best it could be. Then you die, and the same girl you loved is not only possibly responsible, but she also dates your best friend. This would make a lot of dead and alive people angry, but that is the plot of this below-average movie.
“Reminders of Him” follows Kenna Rowan, played by Maika Monroe, trying to restart her life after the death of her fiancé Scotty Landry, played by Rudy Pankow. Throughout the movie, she tries to see her daughter, but is prevented by Scotty’s parents and his best friend/her love interest, Ledger Ward, played by Tyriq Withers.
“Reminders of Him” is based on Colleen Hoover’s book, which was already a bad sign. Hoover’s writing is the definition of surface-level. Her stories lack true depth and impact, and the same applies to the novels’ film adaptations. Even when she tries to make a complex story, it ends up embarrassing, as seen with “It Ends With Us.”
The plot and characters are weak, and the audience doesn’t get the time or information to fall in love with the characters before they fall in love with each other. I expect more yearning from a slow burn, but less than 10 minutes in, Ledger is already hitting on Kenna just because she ordered a coffee at a bar. Maybe that intrigued him, but it’s kind of weird and giving Disney 2010’s main character.
In a romance, that meet-cute moment should warm the heart and get the whole audience giddy, but this felt more awkward and distant. There is no time for the audience to connect themselves to Kenna enough that they care about her love life.
The idea that they even love each other is hard enough to believe, with how annoyingly on-and-off they are. They never have that expected conversation where they realize they have more in common than they realize, and then their love makes sense. The only thing they have in common is their shared connection to Scotty.
Ledger is preventing Kenna from seeing her daughter, and he thinks Kenna is a murderer, yet somehow they still fall in love. Their relationship makes no sense — it’d be more understandable as enemies. When the characters finally get together in a slow burn, it’s supposed to feel satisfying, but in this case, it feels gross and immoral.
To help the audience sympathize with Kenna’s situation more, it would’ve been nice to see more flashbacks of her and Scotty. This way, we could actually feel a connection to her pain and life.
The acting doesn’t help very much either. Monroe doesn’t disappear into the role at all. Instead of the character struggling not to cry, it seems like Monroe struggles to cry because of how little depth this story holds. Whenever she speaks, it feels so inauthentic that it can’t be helped but to see Monroe instead of Kenna.
The music and sound don’t help to make this movie feel any more emotional. It is weirdly quiet with very little music and background noise, making everything feel awkward.
It follows in the footsteps of “Love Island” by playing music that basically narrates exactly what’s going on multiple times. For example, “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron plays during a scene of Scotty and Kenna first meeting. Apparently, no one thought to get a little more creative.
The movie leaves very little to the imagination, especially with the poor storytelling. Whenever the audience may start to wonder what’s gonna happen next, it is answered immediately in the next scene.
It’s the same with emotional scenes. Finally, a chance comes up to sympathize with the characters, but then it’s over in two seconds.
The movie focuses too much on the boring romance instead of the actual drama. It would have worked better as a focus on Kenna’s improvement and attempt to connect with her daughter alone, instead of her questionable relationship.
Unfortunately, the best parts are shoved into the last 10 minutes of the movie. It sets up multiple moments for a huge confrontation between Kenna and the Landrys that never happens.
It builds so much potential for a good, dramatic, anger-filled moment, but the confrontation is over so fast it leaves the audience wanting something more that never comes.
Surprisingly, the ending is actually very wholesome and tugs at the heartstrings. However, the last 5 minutes shouldn’t be the only enjoyable part of a movie.
“Reminders of Him” has the potential to be a great, empowering drama for single mothers everywhere. Instead, it was an empty romance that proved once again, Colleen Hoover is an amateur storyteller.
