- "Only Once": book adaptation with Blake Lively
Lily Bloom only wants a fresh start. But when she lets a man into her life, she's caught up in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" by the past. The film adaptation of the bestselling novel by Colleen Hoover, starring "Gossip Girl" star Blake Lively (36), revolves around an abusive relationship and its consequences.
Lily (Lively), who opens a flower shop in Boston after her father's death and wants to leave her traumatic childhood behind, meets and falls in love with charming neurosurgeon Ryle - played by Justin Baldoni ("Jane The Virgin"), who also directed the drama.
Suddenly, old love reappears
As Lily's relationship with Ryle becomes more intense, she starts to feel like she's in the violent marriage her parents had. This feeling is exacerbated when her old flame Atlas (Brandon Sklenar) suddenly reappears, adding a love triangle to the mix.
The theme of (domestic) violence runs throughout the over two-hour film. Baldoni uses flashbacks to Lily's childhood to show, for example, her father hitting her mother. These scenes are emotionally charged and also bring Lily's present-day story full circle.
The film shows how patterns from a traumatic childhood can persist into adulthood and how important it is to address them. It also emphasizes the importance of knowing and valuing one's self-worth, independent of a relationship.
However, the exploration of abusive relationships feels somewhat surface-level and could have benefited from more nuance. Despite this, Lively and Baldoni shine in their leading roles.
Baldoni told The Hollywood Reporter that shooting scenes of gender-based violence was challenging. "There were many moments where I had to go into a room and cry or shake off the energy of the character I was playing," he said.
"There are too many real Lily Blooms out there who have to deal with this every day, and I wanted it to feel as real as possible, but it was still very hard to shoot these scenes," said the American actor and director.
What Taylor Swift has to do with the film
Lively, who also produced the film, told The Hollywood Reporter that the team had experienced "a rollercoaster of human experiences" and she was very proud of it. She's particularly a fan of a specific song from the soundtrack. In the film, Taylor Swift's "My Tears Ricochet" plays during a particularly emotional scene. "All her songs are great, we could have chosen any of them," said the wife of Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds, who is a close friend of Swift's.
Lily, despite her desire to move on from her past, finding herself feeling trapped in her relationship with Ryle, decides, "I'm not going to let my past control my present anymore." Atlas' sudden reappearance only intensifies these feelings, making Lily realize, "I'm not going to repeat the mistakes of my past in this love triangle."
