Reminders of Him (2026)
Reminders of Him, the newest film adaptation of BookTok sensation Colleen Hoover's novel of the same name, is like if you filtered a Nicholas Sparks story through the dark lens of 2026. Alternately sudsy and grimly self-serious, it's a love story less interested in romantic sparks than it is in trauma with a capital T.
This shouldn't come as much of a surprise for fans of Hoover, author of recently adapted It Ends With Us and Regretting You. Like those novels-to-films, Reminders of Him attempts to blend young adult romance novel tropes with the morally complex issues of contemporary adult fiction—to variable results.
The story centers on Kenna Rowan (Maika Monroe), recently released from prison for vehicular manslaughter in a devastating car accident that killed her then-boyfriend. Pregnant at the time of the accident, Kenna is forced to leave her new baby in the custody of her late boyfriend's parents (Lauren Graham and Bradley Whitford). Returning to her Wyoming hometown to rebuild her life and finally meet her daughter, Kenna also finds herself connecting with, and possibly falling for, Ledger Ward (Tyriq Withers), a local bar owner and former football star.
The most promising thing Reminders of Him has going for it is its strong cast, featuring a blend of rising young actors and reliable TV stars. It's a welcome surprise to see Graham and Whitford. and they imbue stock, underdeveloped parts with some genuine emotion and gravitas.
Monroe, a bit of a modern screen scream queen, has an offbeat, occasionally affectless, often otherworldly quality that has been put to such good effect in films including Longlegs, Watcher, and It Follows. Those qualities are often a mismatch for the material here, though, which necessitates charisma and emotional expressiveness to offset thin characterization.
Withers is effectively, if blandly, hunky and sensitive as the morally conflicted Ledger. However, he and Monroe have few sparks together, and the film's overly dour approach to its subject matter doesn't do them any favors.
If you're a fan of Hoover's, Reminders of
Him will likely scratch your contemporary adult romance itch. For everyone
else, save the $15 and fire up more satisfyingly soapy films such as The
Notebook at home.
