Kenna (Maika Monroe) returns to her hometown after being released from prison in the hopes of reconnecting with her daughter Diem (Zoe Kosovic). Trying to put her life back together after poor decisions led to her incarceration, Kenna meets bar owner Ledger (Tyriq Withers). As the two navigate a new romance, Kenna discovers that Ledger is close friends with Diem’s grandparents Grace (Lauren Graham) and Patrick (Bradley Whitford), who raised her in Kenna’s absence. As she tries to make amends for her past mistakes, Kenna is kept from meeting her daughter and her budding romance threatens to cause friction in the town.
‘Reminders of Him’ is the latest Colleen Hoover adaptation, following on from the success of ‘It Ends With Us’, which despite being a box office hit was tarnished by the legal battle between its stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Understandably film studios have been keen to replicate the success of that film, and Hoover co-wrote the screenplay for ‘Reminders of Him’ with Lauren Levine, based on her book of the same name. The film was a moderate hit at the box office but it didn’t come close to the runaway success of ‘It Ends With Us’.
Sticking firmly in Hoover’s wheelhouse of relationship and family drama, ‘Reminders of Him’ is a story about redemption. The central character Kenna is responsible for a tragedy that had a ripple affect on the town she lived in, and it resulted in her life taking a very different path to the one she’d imagined. Returning to the town is a brave decision, as Kenna knows that her presence is going to open up old wounds, but she’s determined to connect with the daughter she never had the opportunity to raise.
As she tries to find a job to make ends meet, Kenna meets Ledger and there’s an instant spark. The two share history they aren’t initially aware of, and that makes their romance one that comes with a whole heap of complications. They try to keep things behind closed doors, but as is the nature of this kind of story, you know it’s going to get out and cause issues eventually. What complicates the relationship is that Ledger has ties to the incident that resulted in Kenna going to prison, and he is close to the family that is raising Diem. That means his loyalties are tested, and he has to decide whether to follow his head or his heart.
‘Reminders of Him’ covers very familiar ground and there aren’t a lot of surprises along the way. There’s a bit of mystery as viewers are teased with what Kenna actually did, and that reveal comes around two-thirds of the way into the film, but for the most part the film checks all of the necessary melodrama boxes. Kenna’s character isn’t fleshed out enough for you to really get behind, and there’s not a lot of material dealing with how she feels about what she did. The film could have hit a harder emotional blow had it really delved into Kenna’s mistake.
The film is largely carried by its cast, led strongly by Maika Monroe and Tyriq Withers. Both actors give solid performances with Monroe trying her best to get to the emotional heart of her character, and Withers continuing to build an impressive resume that should help him graduate to proper leading man status. They are ably supported by the always reliable Lauren Graham and Bradley Whitford, as the grandparents of Kenna’s daughter, and they bring the most emotion to the film.
Extras on the Blu-ray disc include a feature commentary, a selected of deleted scenes and a couple of featurettes that take you behind-the-scenes of the film.
‘Reminders of Him’ is a perfectly adequate film that is largely unremarkable. Its core audience will enjoy it for what it is, but it misses the opportunity to deliver a Nicholas Sparks adaptation level emotional gut punch. A film like this has to connect with the audience and mess with their emotions, but ‘Reminders of Him’ doesn’t do that. There are far worse ways to spend a couple of hours, but ‘Reminders of Him’ could have landed in a more impactful way had the story been developed more.
Cast: Maika Monroe, Tyriq Withers, Zoe Kosovic, Lauren Graham, Jennifer Robertson, Rudy Pankow, Bradley Whitford, Lainey Wilson Director: Vanessa Caswill Writers: Lauren Levine & Colleen Hoover Certificate: 12 Duration: 114 mins Released by: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Release date: 15th June 2026 Buy ‘Reminders of Him’ now
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