Movie Thoughts: Reminders of Him (2026)

• Released: March 11th, 2026
• Directed by: Vanessa Caswill
• Running time: 1h 54min
• Rating 3/5

Synopsis

A woman named Kenna is released from prison after a DUI charge and wishes to reunite with her late husband's daughter, Diem. But her in-laws, Diem's caretakers, don't want Kenna anywhere near her. Kenna now has to come to terms with the situation, all the while falling in love with the handsome Ledger, who also looks after Diem. 

My Thoughts

Full disclaimer, I've never read the book this is based on (nor any other Colleen Hoover book for that matter), so I'm going in based on the movie alone.

And yeah, I mean, this isn't terrible, but it didn't do that for me personally. I do think that I like this one more than It Ends With Us from a few years ago, but not by much. 

This movie was a bit melodramatic for my tastes and I also didn't find myself particularly invested in any of the characters, even main characters like Kenna and Ledger. They were okay, I didn't hate them, but still I didn't find myself all that invested in any of them.

I also hated how early on in the movie it's a plot point that Kenna adopts a kitten, yet she's never once shown looking after it. Kittens require specialized food, companionship, socialization, play, enrichment, etc., and Kenna is never shown providing this for her kitten once. She's a terrible pet owner yet we're still supposed to like her somehow.

Also I feel that the end resolution also glances a bit over the fact that she did very much kill Scotty, because she did drive under the influence. Yes, she did try to get help and think that Scotty was dead, but like, still. The fact that the accident happened in the first place is because of her DUI, so she is still very much responsible for Scotty's death. So honestly I don't blame her in-laws for trying to keep her away from Diem; Kenna is still responsible for their son's death. Not saying that the way they went about things was great, either, but I was honestly sympathizing more with the in-laws here than with Kenna. One sappy letter in a notebook didn't change how I saw her character.

So yeah, I guess this movie just isn't for me. It's not terrible, it's serviceable enough, but I didn't find these characters or their romance particularly engaging and honestly Kenna was a bit unlikable to me. Maybe if she'd actually taken responsibility and looked properly after her cat I'd care, but she didn't, so I don't. 

Also as a pretty funny side-note, none of the actors in this seem to agree how Diem's name is pronounced. Some pronounce it as "Deem", others as "Dee-em". Consistency, what's that?