'Reminders of Him' (2026) Review: A Predictable Colleen Hoover Adaptation Saved by Maika Monroe

Reminders of Him

Directed by Vanessa Casswill

Written by Colleen Hoover, Lauren Levin

Starring Maika Monroe, Tyriq Withers

Release Date March 13th, 2026

A Melodrama You Can See Coming

Reminders of Him should come with a Bingo card. That way, when you find yourself not enjoying the boiling melodrama, you can at least have some fun ticking off the scenes you predicted were going to happen. Had I had the pleasure of a Bingo card, I would have won the game by the start of the third act. Every moment of this adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s popular novel can be predicted before it happens.

Maika Monroe Deserves Better

Maika Monroe stars in Reminders of Him, a film below her talents. Monroe is a wonderfully intuitive actor with great instincts. She gives off a vibe of intense sadness masked by fierce resilience. That is, in part, due to her horror film work, where she has often played the traditional “final girl” with a gritty determination to survive. But it also speaks to her innate ability to sense what a scene needs and deliver beyond expectations.

A Story Built on Tragedy and Return

Monroe plays Kenna, a recent parolee returning to her hometown of Laramie, Wyoming—the site of her greatest trauma: the death of her boyfriend, Scottie (Rudy Pankow). Scottie was killed in a drunk driving accident, with Kenna behind the wheel. After fleeing the scene, she was convicted of manslaughter.

While in prison, Kenna learns she is pregnant with Scottie’s child. Upon giving birth, the baby is immediately placed with Scottie’s parents, Grace and Patrick (Lauren Graham and Bradley Whitford). Five years later, Kenna returns to Laramie hoping to see her daughter for the first time.

A Romance Wrapped in Coincidence

Before she can reconnect with her child, Kenna needs a place to live and a job. She spends the last of her savings on a rundown apartment and begins searching for work. At a bar—once a bookstore-coffee shop she shared with Scottie—she meets Ledger (Tyriq Withers), the owner.

Ledger flirts with Kenna immediately, unaware of her past. Soon enough, she learns who he is: Scottie’s best friend. The two never met before, as Ledger had been playing in the NFL for the Denver Broncos during her relationship with Scottie. After a career-ending shoulder injury, he returned to Laramie and opened the bar.

Ledger lives across the street from Scottie’s parents and has become a central figure in Kenna’s daughter’s life. The daughter, named Diem—yes, as in Carpe Diem—is at the emotional center of the story.

Predictability Undermines the Drama

When Ledger discovers Kenna’s identity, he initially pulls away, but he can’t help feeling sympathy for her. As he tries to help Kenna while keeping her presence hidden from Grace and Patrick, a romance begins to develop—one that threatens to unravel every relationship involved.

Or at least it would in a better movie. Here, the script telegraphs its happy ending so clearly it feels like it called ahead to let the audience know what to expect.

Moments That Still Work

And yet, I’ll admit—I did cry a little during Reminders of Him. Not because the film is disastrous, but because it occasionally taps into something real.

A late scene, where Kenna meets her five-year-old daughter for the first time, is undeniably affecting. You’d have to be made of stone not to feel for the confused little girl, happy to meet her mother but unable to understand why they’ve been apart.

Monroe elevates these moments. The scenes between Kenna and Diem carry genuine emotional weight, even if the story hasn’t truly earned them. Yes, it’s manipulative—few things are more effective than the emotions of a small child—but the reaction is still real.

Final Thoughts

Reminders of Him isn’t a terrible movie—it’s a frustrating one. The technical elements are passable, and Maika Monroe is, as always, compelling. But the story is so relentlessly predictable and emotionally heavy-handed that it drains the film of any real tension. Every cliché lands exactly where you expect it to, every development feels preordained, and the lack of genuine stakes makes it a tough sit. There are moments of truth here, but they’re buried beneath a script that never trusts the audience enough to surprise them.

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Reminders of Him review, Maika Monroe, Colleen Hoover adaptation, romantic drama 2026, movie reviews, book to film adaptation, drama films, 2026 movies, film critique, emotional dramas