As someone who waited for the film adaptation of It Ends With Us with bated breath, I have to say I was impressed. Sure, there’s been plenty of speculation that Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni (who doubled as the movie’s director and male lead) had some sort of fallout due to their lack of joint press for the film. And of course, there were differences between the book and film that left some fans (myself included) a little disappointed. Overall, though, I was impressed with this book-to-film adaptation, and one of my favorite parts of the project was the world-building.
In the novel and movie, It Ends With Us is set in Boston, Massachusetts because “everything is better in Boston,” of course. The story spotlights the romance betweenLily Bloom, portrayed by Lively, and her neurosurgeon partner, Ryle Kincaid, portrayed by Baldoni. While Lily is falling in love with Ryle, she crosses paths with her first love, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), who she dated in high school and just so happened to move to Boston as well.
A key element of their story is Atlas’ love for cooking, which he fully-realized by opening his restaurant BIB, aka Root in the film. The scenes filmed inside Atlas’s business stood out to me because of how beautifully decorated the space was. I was sure Root was likely built by the film’s production designer, but I was totally wrong: It’s an actual restaurant in New Jersey.
Root from It Ends With Us is better known as South House in Jersey City. The restaurant aims to “be representatives of southern hospitality” and “share enjoyment of good food and good vibes” for all patrons. South House is just as charming, if not more, than it was in the movie.
TikTok creator @alonainthecity shared a video after the film’s Aug. 9 release date confirming that the restaurant wasn’t just a set used for the movie. In the creator’s video, she revealed South House closed its doors for two weeks due to filming and underwent a few interior changes but still maintained its original elements for the movie.
Atlas’ restaurant sets the scene for a few pivotal moments in the film’s storyline. It’s the first place where Lily and Atlas come face to face since they were teenagers. After Lily and Ryle’s first trip to the restaurant with her mom, Ryle insists on taking his sister and her husband. However, their second visit happened shortly after Ryle got physical with Lily for the first time. When Atlas notices Lily’s black eye and Ryle’s hand bandaged up, he pulls her aside to inquire if she’s okay, and a massive fight between the men breaks out. After the fight, Lily doesn’t return to the restaurant until her final altercation with Ryle when she turns for Atlas’s support.
If I ever find myself in Jersey City, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t going to check out South House.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, call 911 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1(800) 799-SAFE (7233) or visit thehotline.org.