Reviews

Colleen Hoover has become the Nicholas Sparks of this generation, and the film adaptations of her books just keep on coming. We’ve already had It Ends With Us and Regretting You, and now it’s time for Reminders of Him.

This romance drama centres upon Kenna (Maika Monroe), who gets out of prison after serving five years for vehicular manslaughter and returns to her hometown of Laramie, Wyoming.

After securing herself a place to rent and a job at a supermarket, Kenna’s next priority is to be reunited with her daughter Diem (Zoe Kosovic).

However, she is banned from doing so by Diem’s grandparents Grace and Patrick Landry (Lauren Graham and Bradley Whitford), who believed she left their son – her boyfriend Scott (Rudy Pankow) – for dead after their car accident.

Amid that ongoing drama, Kenna meets a local bar owner, Ledger (Tyriq Withers), and they fall for each other, despite him being Scott’s best friend and essentially a surrogate father to Diem.

You might be thinking the plot sounds outrageous, and you would be right. Even for a Colleen Hoover book adaptation, the plot is ridiculously contrived and it’s preposterous that audiences would be expected to swallow this concept and this romance.

Many things don’t add up, for example, why did Kenna and Ledger never meet before Scott died? And in the modern world, how did they possibly not know what each other looked like? And why is he close to Diem?

Reminders of Him is the first Hoover adaptation to be co-written by the author herself, so naturally, it is loyal to the book, but the dialogue is pretty cringeworthy in places and Kenna’s letters to Scott – which we hear as voiceovers – are unnecessary.

But despite all of these shortcomings and the central romance being a terrible idea, the movie still creeps up on you and packs an emotional punch towards the end.

Kenna’s fight to be reunited with her daughter is the strongest part of the story and you will become invested in her pursuit. This story pays off in a satisfying and moving way that may bring you to tears.

Monroe and Withers, who are best known for their work in horror and thrillers, do a solid job in their stab at a romance drama; they have chemistry and are committed to their characters’ internal struggles.

But the standouts are Graham and Whitford, who do so much with so little screentime as the grandparents.

In particular, Graham gives a heartbreaking performance as a grieving mother who feels conflicted about letting Kenna back into their lives.

The Hoover adaptations started relatively strong with 2024’s It Ends With Us before taking a downturn with 2025’s ludicrously-plotted Regretting You. Reminders of Him sits somewhere in the middle. Who knows what her next movie, Verity, will be like later this year!

In cinemas Friday 13th March

By Hannah Wales

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