‘Reminders of Him Review’: A Messy, Morally Gray Tale of Second Chances

Synopsis: After prison, a woman attempts to reconnect with her young daughter but faces resistance from everyone except a bar owner with ties to her child. As they grow closer, she must confront her past mistakes to build a hopeful future.
Director: Vanessa Caswill
Stars: Maika Monroe, Tyriq Withers, Nicholas Duvernay, Lauren Grahm, Bradley Whitford

Reminders of Him, based on the novel by Reminders of Him from Colleen Hoover, leans fully into the kind of emotionally messy storytelling that has made Hoover such a popular—and polarizing—voice. At its core, this is a story about redemption, grief, and the complicated road toward forgiveness, but it’s also wrapped in a romance that raises more than a few eyebrows.

The film follows a young woman trying to rebuild her life after serving time in prison, connected to a tragic accident that killed her boyfriend. When she returns to town, she’s determined to reconnect with the daughter she left behind, but that proves easier said than done. The child is now being raised by her late boyfriend’s family, who want nothing to do with her. As she struggles to prove she deserves a second chance, she forms an unexpected connection with a man tied closely to her past—someone who understands her pain but also represents a moral gray area the film keeps circling back to.

That gray area becomes the film’s central question: is it ever acceptable to pursue a relationship with your deceased best friend’s partner? It’s a bold angle, but one that ultimately undercuts the emotional core. Instead of fully investing in the story of a woman trying to reclaim her life and earn forgiveness, the film keeps pulling focus toward this morally questionable romance, which at times feels more distracting than thought-provoking.

Tyriq Withers delivers a strong performance as the male lead. He has an easy charm and emotional accessibility that makes his character work, even when the script puts him in difficult territory. There’s a noticeable resemblance in style to Channing Tatum, from his delivery to his physical presence, but it’s effective enough that it never feels like a complete imitation.

Maika Monroe, meanwhile, takes a more subtle approach. Her performance carries quiet emotional weight, often saying more in silence than dialogue. There are moments where she gives off Blake Lively vibes in her composure and screen presence, but Monroe keeps things grounded. She may not command every scene, but she does enough to make the character’s internal struggle believable.

Where the film truly succeeds is in its handling of loss and second chances. It understands that redemption isn’t something easily given and that grief lingers in complicated ways. Some of its most effective scenes are the quietest ones—where characters sit with their pain and try to figure out how to move forward.

Still, Reminders of Him never quite balances its themes. The emotional story of forgiveness and rebuilding is compelling, but the moral dilemma at the centre weakens its impact. It’s a film that has a lot to say about second chances, but it occasionally gets in its own way trying to complicate things further than necessary.

Grade: C+

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