As a dedicated fan of both the book “It Ends With Us” and its upcoming adaptation, I can confidently say that Oona Flaherty’s insight into the movie’s editing process was nothing short of enlightening. Her passion for telling Lily’s story authentically shone through in her discussion about a crucial scene involving Ryle and Lily.
The narrative in both the novel “It Ends With Us” and its upcoming 2024 film adaptation revolves around the central character, Lily Boom. We journey with her as she develops feelings for Ryle, encounters Atlas once more, and experiences the harrowing moments when Ryle turns violent towards Blake Lively’s character. During my conversation with Oona Flaherty, one of the film’s editors, I inquired about their collaboration with director and actor Justin Baldoni to portray Lily’s story. This discussion eventually led to her sharing insights into a significant scene, as well as the disagreements they had regarding its editing.
In our discussion during the interview, Flaherty and I delved deeply into the portrayal of abuse in the movie and their intention to tell Lily’s story alongside Ryle. Thus, I requested the editor to share an illustration of her conversations with Baldoni and the post-production team regarding the compilation of these delicate scenes.
In reply, she shared a tale regarding the editing process of the climactic abusive scene, and the argument she had with the director over whether to depict Lily’s response or switch to Ryle instead.
One of my favorite moments in the film is when, right before the final abuse, he puts Lily on the counter, and makes her read from the magazine, the review of Atlas’ [restaurant]. And Blake just, I remember, I watch every take when I get dailies, and I watched the take that is in the film, and I screamed, ‘Yes!’ because she just nailed every nuanced moment of that. And so I thought – this is one of the moments Justin and I debated over, we never fought, I wouldn’t say, but I was like, ‘We have to stay on Blake for this whole one-er. We have to just stay on her for the whole thing.’
In a different phrasing, Oona Flaherty showed great interest in the sequence where Ryle challenges Lily regarding Atlas’ restaurant critique, which hints at their past together. Although this confrontation in the movie “It Ends With Us” is portrayed slightly differently from the book, it fulfills the identical role as the turning point that propels Lily to depart and seek aid to escape her husband. Thus, both the editor and director recognized its significance and made sure they handled it appropriately.
On that note, Flaherty broke down the conversation she had with Baldoni further, explaining:
And he said, ‘But I want the audience to see the violence in Ryle’s eyes.’ And Justin also gave a stellar performance in this scene. He’s like ‘I want to see the violence in his eyes and the anger. And I want the audience to feel the fear that Lily is feeling.’ And I said, ‘We do. It’s stronger when we’re watching her face, because we are living in her eyes, essentially.’ And so that’s sort of the discussions that we had, of like, ‘What’s the best way to tell Lily’s story in each scene and in these violent moments?’
Initially, the editor shared with me that Baldoni conducted extensive research on the film’s topic, which included understanding “how perpetrators escape accountability for their actions” and the “devastating psychological and emotional impact” of such abuse. Moreover, Flaherty openly discussed her personal experience, stating she is not a victim of domestic violence but was assaulted in New York. Consequently, she drew upon her own knowledge of what it means to be a woman experiencing violence when working on the film.
The editor of “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” explained how the production process unfolded for this controversial topic. Many people involved in the film provided their input through thoughtful feedback, and it was through a series of discussions and adjustments that we eventually saw the final cut on the big screen, as she put it.
In simpler terms, we discovered that staying with her had a greater impact on the final outcome. We both worked together extensively on different versions of the footage, which we referred to as ‘a greatest hits.’ This work would then be reviewed by our colleague Justin, who provided feedback. Then, we’d discuss what was most effective with the assistant editors or producers, asking questions like “What’s resonating with people and why?” Finally, we’d use this feedback to make decisions on which parts to keep in the final edit. In summary, it was a collaborative process aimed at understanding what worked best with our audience.
Regarding the rumored backstage tension, Flaherty praised her experience working with Baldoni and editor Robb Sullivan, expressing genuine pride over their collaborative effort on “It Ends With Us”. Their dedication and teamwork proved fruitful as the movie garnered positive reviews and was a box office success, demonstrating the strong interest of fans in Lily’s tale.
It’s evident that the creators had a strong commitment as well, which was demonstrated by Flaherty’s dedication to keep the crucial scene centered on Lively’s character, Lily, rather than alternating between her and Ryle.
If you’d like to revisit the place where Oona Flaherty had a breakdown in TopMob, consider purchasing or renting the book titled “It Ends With Us” on Amazon instead.
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2024-10-16 00:37