I went into the screening of Reminders of Him with a very specific curiosity: how would an actress like Maika Monroe (Longlegs), who has such a solid career in genre cinema — specifically horror — behave in a role of exposed vulnerability, typically molded to pull at the heartstrings of its target audience? My familiarity with redemption narratives is vast, but despite knowing the buttons that filmmakers usually try to push, there’s something inherently human in the story of someone trying to reclaim their place in the world after losing everything.
Reminders of Him is directed by Vanessa Caswill (Little Women), with a screenplay co-written by Colleen Hoover, the author of the literary work, and Lauren Levine (Bridge to Terabithia). The story introduces us to Kenna Rowan (Monroe), a woman who returns to the town where her past was destroyed after serving five years in prison. Her goal is to reunite with her four-year-old daughter, Diem (Zoe Kosovic), whom she has never met. However, her path is blocked by the child’s grandparents, Grace (Lauren Graham, Gilmore Girls) and Patrick Landry (Bradley Whitford, Get Out), who harbor deep resentment over the death of their son, Scotty (Rudy Pankow, Outer Banks). Amidst this conflict arises Ledger (Tyriq Withers, The Game), Scotty’s best friend and owner of a local bar, who becomes the unlikely bridge between Kenna’s past and the future she’s trying to build.
The driving force of Reminders of Him lies in Monroe‘s performance; she’s the undisputed MVP. The actress brings a quality of “containment” to the character that’s magnetic; she moves across the screen as if she’s trying to take up as little space as possible, a physical manifestation of the guilt she carries. It’s not just a tear-jerking performance, but also a study of silence and the weight of being looked at as an object — a “convict” — rather than a person. Caswill understands this, using Tim Ives‘ (Stranger Things) camera to linger on Monroe‘s face as she observes the melancholic landscapes captured with a beauty that’s both sun-drenched and sad.
The dynamic between Monroe and Withers is quite genuine and anchored in a shared vulnerability. Ledger isn’t just a romantic interest but the audience surrogate, balancing loyalty to his deceased friend with empathy for a woman everyone tells him to hate. There’s an organic tension in their interactions that makes the relationship feel earned, even within the script’s conveniences. Withers brings a necessary stability that contrasts with the gray tone of Kenna’s life. Reminders of Him also triumphs in the expansion of the supporting cast. Characters like Lady Diana (Monika Myers), a neighbor with Down syndrome, or Amy (Lainey Wilson, Yellowstone), the co-manager of the supermarket where Kenna works, add a layer of humanity to the story, functioning as moral compasses who see Kenna without the weight of her worst moment. These inclusions make the community feel richer, helping to highlight the theme of the dehumanization of ex-convicts. It’s clear here that social forgiveness is often a collective construction.
However, not everything flows as smoothly. The screenplay for Reminders of Him suffers from a mechanical and predictable nature, resulting in pacing issues, especially in the second act. There are moments where the film drags before reaching the anticipated turning points, and the heavy themes of suffocating grief lose some of their raw impact due to a direction that sometimes prefers the picturesque over the visceral. This lightness is felt in the resolution of the central conflict, as the ending feels rushed and simplified, though emotionally satisfying. The transition from hatred to total acceptance by some characters happens in a way that suggests real life wouldn’t allow for such a clean shortcut. It’s the classic “I don’t think it should’ve been that easy,” where years of animosity seem to evaporate in favor of a happy ending that feels somewhat artificial, despite being the scene I had anticipated from the first minute.
A final note on the fascinating analysis of the “ownership of grief”. The parents, Grace and Patrick, use their pain as a fortress to exclude Kenna, treating their suffering as moral authority. The movie challenges this mechanism by suggesting that healing only begins when grief is shared. Kenna doesn’t want to erase the past; she just wants to coexist with it, and that agonizing patience makes her arc rewarding, even if the structure around it is conventional.
Final Thoughts on Reminders of Him
Reminders of Him is an effective exercise in emotional catharsis that survives its structural flaws thanks to a committed cast and Maika Monroe in a state of grace. It’s a film that reminds us that objective judgment in cinema is an illusion and that, sometimes, we just need a story that validates the need for a second chance. The imperfect beauty of redemption proves that, even on the grayest days, love is the only light capable of illuminating the shadows of our past.
Rating: B-
Reminders of Him is now playing in theaters.
Learn more about the film, including how to buy tickets, at the official website for the title.
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