Reminders Of Him Review: Colleen Hoover’s New Romance Activated My Lizard Brain

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By 2026, Colleen Hoover’s popularity continues to surge. Since she began publishing in 2012, she’s released 26 books and become incredibly popular on BookTok. Hollywood eventually took notice, and her novel It Ends With Us, released in 2024, was a major success. The film earned $350 million on a $25 million budget and sparked a legal dispute between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, and more adaptations are underway.

While 2025’s Regretting You earned $90 million – a smaller amount than previous films – it stayed in theaters longer than expected. Colleen Hoover, who also produces these movies, co-wrote this adaptation of her 2022 novel with the same title. The film continues the serious tone of its predecessors, telling the story of Kenna (Maika Monroe), a woman recently out of prison trying to rebuild a relationship with her daughter.

While Reminders of Him isn’t a particularly well-made film in a conventional way, it’s surprisingly enjoyable. Similar to Regretting You, it manages to overcome its flaws with a guilty-pleasure appeal, letting you simply enjoy its over-the-top, emotional story. This is apparent right from the start, with the film opening on Kenna returning to her hometown of Laramie, Wyoming – inexplicably arriving by taxi in the middle of nowhere.

On the way into town, Kenna unexpectedly asks the driver to stop at a roadside memorial for Scotty Landry. Kenna is in prison for accidentally killing Scotty – her boyfriend – in a car accident on his birthday. His parents, Grace and Patrick, are raising their daughter and haven’t forgiven Kenna, who they hold responsible for destroying their lives. She’s now living in a run-down apartment complex called Paradise.

The movie quickly establishes its central story within the first half hour. With over an hour remaining, the plot has limited directions it can take. Predictably, Kenna finds herself falling for Ledger (Tyriq Withers), her late boyfriend’s best friend – now a bar owner whose establishment is located in the same building as the bookstore she and her boyfriend used to frequent. These little details are intentionally woven throughout Reminders of Him to suggest a destined romance. However, some significant weaknesses ultimately detract from this feeling of fate.

Reminders Of Him Is Quintessential Colleen Hoover – For Better & Worse

Vanessa Caswill, the director known for the BBC’s 2017 version of Little Women, effectively captures the beauty of the Wyoming setting in Reminders of Him. Interestingly, despite different directors working on each Colleen Hoover adaptation, they all share a similar visual style. This film benefits from showcasing the expansive landscapes, trading the urban scenes of It Ends With Us for stunning mountain views, which helps establish a strong sense of location.

The strongest part of Reminders of Him is definitely its lead actress, Monroe. She’s a remarkably talented performer, and this role demands a lot of emotional depth. Monroe portrays Kenna’s pain with raw honesty, constantly writing letters to her son, Scotty, in a well-worn notebook. While the film occasionally uses voiceover of Kenna reading these letters – a somewhat clumsy storytelling choice that Monroe works hard to elevate – the biggest issue is that the plot is very predictable, especially since so much of it was already revealed in the trailers.

The strong connection between Kenna and Ledger is what truly drives the story, but the chemistry just isn’t there between Kenna and Withers. Withers’ character feels underdeveloped – we get glimpses of a past, but he mostly serves the plot rather than feeling like a real person. This makes it hard to understand Kenna’s attraction to him, beyond his presence in her daughter’s life.

Despite its heavy themes, Reminders of Him is surprisingly watchable and even enjoyable. The movie clearly connects with viewers, and you might find yourself caught up in the strong emotions or even laughing at moments that aren’t meant to be comedic, but still have a funny side.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why Dustin Hoover’s films resonate so strongly, and audiences will likely be analyzing them for years to come. However, it appears the key lies in his ability to balance the ridiculous with genuine emotional pain, making films like Reminders of Him strangely compelling. While the combination shouldn’t work – and often feels disjointed – the result is undeniably entertaining: a wild, unbelievable story at its heart, paired with a deeply moving love story.

Reminders of Him hits theaters on March 13.

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2026-03-11 19:18