Kenna Rowan (Maika Monroe) returns to her hometown after five years in prison. After driving under the influence with her boyfriend Scotty Landry (Rudy Pankow), the two are in a car accident that ultimately kills Scotty. Pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter, Kenna now hopes to make amends and she wants to start by reconnecting with her daughter Diem (Zoe Kosovic). But Scotty’s parents Grace (Lauren Graham) and Patrick (Bradley Whitford) don’t think it’s a good idea. When Kenna sparks up a friendship with Ledger Ward (Tyriq Withers), local bar owner and Scotty’s best friend, she hopes that he’ll help change the Landry’s mind about her.
The third of Colleen Hoover’s novels to get the big screen treatment, Reminders of Him was actually the first I read from her. I was curious to see how they would tackle it. From the romance to the not so easy subject matter, it was pretty much how I expected it would be. Hoover adaptions are starting to have the same sort of formula though that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It was a perfectly fine outing to the cinema.
Monroe, who is more commonly known in the horror genre, tries her luck in the romance field. She does a good job as Kenna, bringing a likability to her character. It’s obvious that she’s made mistakes, but she doesn’t want these to define her. I liked seeing her get her life back on track whether that included finding a job, befriending some of the fellow residents at her apartment complex (Jennifer Roberts and Monika Myers are standouts as Ruth Clayton and Lady Diana), and taking in a cat. Withers, another horror face, is also trying something new here. Although I wasn’t convinced by his powerful scenes, I did buy his chemistry with Monroe and thought they worked well together. Graham and Whitford were solid as the grieving parents who aren’t quite ready to move on. Graham, in particular, really impressed me with her emotional turn.
While there is no doubt about the romance element, I did think that the film excelled when it focused more on the family drama. Both biological and found family are explored here and even though they did a good job, I think it could have been even more impactful. I would have liked a scene between Kenna and Patrick, for example, where he forgave her. It also would have been nice to see a few more flashbacks between Scotty and his parents as the only one we got was the day of his birthday. That being said, I was appreciative of the flashbacks we did get because they helped fill in the blanks and also gave more backstory to these characters.
If you are looking for an uplifting film about family, love and second chances, then you should check out Reminders of Him. It may be a little bit on the slower side, but the payoff is mostly worth it. It’s not my favorite CoHo film to date, but I still thought it was a decent adaptation.
Rating: ♥️♥️♥️
Credits Rolling 