A throwback tearjerker from Colleen Hoover

As with most of Hoover’s work, Reminders Of Him is filled with a handful of baffling relationship dynamics—some of them purposefully thorny but others just poorly conceived. At one point Ledger is operating as Kenna’s boss, her chauffeur, her suitor, and the only potential key to reuniting with her daughter, which doesn’t feel like a particularly healthy power dynamic for either of them. And though there are flashbacks to Kenna’s relationship with Scotty, it’s never entirely clear why Grace and Patrick are so biased against her even before the accident. There are plenty of Lifetime-like shortcuts to drama, and only so much juice to the sweet but generic romance between Kenna and Ledger.

Thankfully, there is plenty of juice to Reminders Of Him as a story about motherhood, which is where it really soars. Few, if any, films this mainstream have explored the reality of what it’s like to give birth while incarcerated or how the forced separation that follows can affect both the parent and child for years to come. A brief prison flashback delivers the striking image of Kenna’s breasts leaking milk even as her infant daughter now lives miles away. And Monroe combines a mix of poetic regret and country-western gumption to make Kenna a messy but likable protagonist you want to root for, even in the moments when her actions feel hard to forgive. 

In fact, the whole female ensemble shines bright. There’s a charming, if underutilized, throughline about Kenna finding a community of misfits in Laramie—including a no-nonsense grocery store co-worker (country star Lainey Wilson) and the eccentric neighbors at her rundown apartment complex. (Monika Myers is a highlight there.) And while Grace is underserved by the narrative, it’s a testament to Graham’s longtime experience exploring motherhood on TV that she manages to take what she’s been given and turn it into some of the film’s most genuinely tearjerking moments. 

It’s that unabashed sentimentality that allows filmmaker Vanessa Caswill to turn Reminders Of Him into such an engaging throwback to a different era of Hollywood filmmaking. While the plot isn’t realistic, it’s deeply felt, which is what these kinds of melodramas are supposed to offer. It’s a leaps and bounds improvement over Regretting You, and though Reminders Of Him has fewer grace notes than It Ends With Us, it’s got a more cohesive, meaningful message. Romance may be the thing that gets audiences in the door, but it’s the questions of motherhood and morality that will linger.

Director: Vanessa Caswill
Writer: Colleen Hoover, Lauren Levine
Starring: Maika Monroe, Tyriq Withers, Lauren Graham, Bradley Whitford, Rudy Pankow, Lainey Wilson
Release Date: March 13, 2026