by Samuel Nichols, Contributing Writer
The majority of what I know about Colleen Hoover’s work stems from her first movie It Ends with Us becoming a tabloid headliner for the better part of two years. The rest of what I know comes from an absolute, laugh-riot of a disaster called Regretting You. Needless to say, I didn’t expect much considering I wouldn’t watch either of those two films again if you paid me. (Okay, maybe if you covered my Letterboxd subscription for a year.) But anything is worth trying at least once especially with a cast list featuring Maika Monroe (Longlegs, It Follow), Tyriq Withers (Him), Bradley Whitford (Get Out and way too much else), Rudy Pankow (Outer Banks), and FREAKING LORELAI GILMORE HERSELF Lauren Graham. So, I got myself a seat for 2026’s Reminders of Him, and I prepared to hate it but hoped for more. Boy am I glad I hoped because it paid off.
After serving a seven-year prison sentence, Kenna (Monroe) is trying to connect with her daughter Diem (Zoe Kosovic) who she had with her old boyfriend Scotty (Pankow). But Diem’s grandparents on her father’s side, Patrick (Whitford) and Grace (Graham), have custody and are giving Diem the best life. Furthermore, they want nothing to do with Kenna as they believe she is responsible for Scotty’s death. Scotty’s best friend Ledger (Withers) is a kind of father figure for Diem, but he sees Kenna is just trying to connect with her child. Eventually he takes pity on Kenna and the two form a friendship. Perhaps what they have is even more than that. But it all might take a backseat to Kenna’s desire to do right by her daughter. There are lots of balls in the air for this weird family, and tensions will need to settle before Kenna can meet Diem.
I am impressed by the career decisions made by Monroe and Withers here. Monroe has always had a knack for the horror genre with her aforementioned work. Personally, I think her best work was just a year ago in Longlegs, and what she’s doing her is very different. She gets the reserved character who wants to do something good but has a difficult past which is different than her usual heroine in a scary paranormal picture. So, props to her for diversifying her portfolio. Speaking of diversifying, Withers has had a very interesting 12 months between this, Him, and I Know What You Did Last Summer. The guy has been saying yes quite a lot. Here he does very well as the conflicted guy who takes pity on the new lady in town. Compared to his best work in Atlanta a few years ago it’s not much but this kind of work is definitely getting his name out there.
Unlike the leads, our established actors seem to have taken too small of roles for their own good. Whitford has an excellent CV with his time on The West Wing and Get Out. For goodness sake’s he got three Emmy’s for The Handmaiden’s Tale. But here he is all but playing a sour old man, sniping about his granddaughter’s mother. He gets one emotion to play, bitter. If it was not for a couple of scenes and moments near the end of the movie, Graham would be used only as a sad grandma. This is a legend of the small screen from her time on Gilmore Girls. She could still be the lead role in movies if she wanted to. Give her something to do!
But I understand the importance of Whitford and Graham’s characters. This is not the 1950s anymore families do not look like Mom, Dad, two kids and a dog. There’s a hundred reasons why that isn’t as common as it used to be in America. Reminders of Him knows that it takes a village to raise a child, and it shows this by having plenty of people love on little Diem. Watching this little girl never once question that she is loved, even when she’s asking hard questions about her late father and her mother’s whereabouts, is a beautiful thing. With the unconditional love she has from Ledger and her grandparents and her mother from a distance, she has all the love that any child should need.
Being capable and worthy of love is another big part of the themes here. Obviously Kenna is a very defensive person but there is more to her than what’s on the surface. She knows what happened and feels horrible. But she wants nothing but her kid’s happiness and she regrets what happened to Scotty more than anything. And if she works hard to prove her love for her kid and show that she is not the worst thing that happened to her, maybe someone else will see it as well. Someone like Ledger. And I admire that theme. People deserve second chances if we can see them.
All in all, this is not the worst movie your girlfriend or wife could drag you to this weekend. Hoover has shown she knows how to reach an audience with her writing. Considering the success her movies have had and the quality of Reminders of Him, I think her movies will have to be appointment viewing moving forward.
Rating: Liked It
Reminders of Him is currently playing in theaters
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