March 11, 2026
by Carla Hay
Directed by Vanessa Caswill
Culture Representation: Taking place in Laramie, Wyoming, the dramatic film “Reminders of Him” (based on the novel of the same name) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: After being released from prison for the vehicular manslaughter that killed her boyfriend, a woman goes back to her hometown to try to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter, and she falls in love with her boyfriend’s best friend.
Culture Audience: “Reminders of Him” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, the book on which the movie is based, and predictable romantic dramas that have unrealistic resolutions to serious problems.
Predictable, sappy, and dull to the core, “Reminders of Him” is a hollow drama where people have unrealistic conversations that sound like throwaway lines from a bad romance novel. The romance has more schmaltz than sizzle. “Reminders of Him” also downplays serious and complex issues, in order to force a fairytale narrative.
Directed by Vanessa Caswill, “Reminders of Him” was written by Colleen Hoover and Lauren Levine, who are two of the movie’s producers. “Reminders of Him” is based on Hoover’s 2022 novel of the same name. “Reminders of Him” takes place in Laramie, Wyoming. The movie was actually filmed in Alberta, Canada. The “Reminders of Him” book was set in Colorado.
In “Reminders of Him,” Kenna Rowan (played by Maika Monroe) has been released from prison, after serving a seven-year prison sentence for vehicular manslaughter while driving under the influence. The math doesn’t really add up for the age that Kenna’s daughter is in this story. Kenna found out that she was pregnant shortly after she pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison. While Kenna was in prison, she gave birth to a daughter, who is 5 years old when Kenna gets out of prison.
Based on the movie’s timeline, Kenna’s daughter should be older than 5. In the “Reminders of Him” book, Kenna was given a five-year prison sentence, not a seven-year prison sentence. There’s a brief moment in the movie when Kenna mentions she got an early release from prison, which would be the only logical explanation for why Kenna’s daughter is 5 years old when Kenna gets out of prison in the movie.
Kenna was the driver in a car accident that killed Scott “Scotty” Landry (played by Rudy Pankow), who was her boyfriend at the time. Kenna and Scotty were in their early 20s at the time of the accident. A flashback in the movie shows this accident. Scotty, who had no siblings, is described in the movie as an ideal son who was a football player when he was a student.
The daughter of Kenna and Scotty is bright and bubbly Diem Landry (played by Zoe Kosovic), who has been living with Scotty’s parents Patrick Landry (played by Bradley Whitford) and Grace Landry (played by Lauren Graham) since Diem was a baby. Kenna’s parental rights were terminated. Patrick and Grace have told Diem that Diem’s mother is still alive but unable to take care of Diem.
Kenna feels guilt and remorse over Scotty’s death, but she doesn’t think she should be deprived of getting to know her daughter. However, Grace and Patrick do not want Kenna to be in Diem’s life and have had no contact with Kenna since Kenna went to prison. These grandparents haven’t even told Diem any details about Kenna, such as Kenna’s name or what Kenna looks like. Diem is starting to ask more questions about who Diem’s mother is. Diem is told she’ll get the information when her grandparents think she’s ready.
It’s a damaging way to raise a child in these circumstances, considering that Kenna will eventually get out of prison and considering that Diem could find out information about Kenna from someone other than her grandparents. The grandparents’ deliberate withholding of basic information about Kenna from Diem could cause Diem to feel resentment toward her grandparents if Diem finds out in a way that’s traumatic. It’s one of many problematic situations in “Reminders of Him” that are ultimately glossed over for the fairytale narrative.
When Kenna gets out of prison, one of the first things she does is go back to her hometown of Laramie. Off the side of a road, she sees a makeshift memorial that has a crucifix with Scotty’s name on it. Kenna steals the crucifix. She tells someone later that she stole the crucifix because she thinks Scotty wouldn’t have wanted this type of memorial decoration.
Kenna rents a small studio apartment in a dumpy motel-styled building called Paradise Apartments. The building’s manager Ruth Clayton (played by Jennifer Robertson) offers Kenna a discount on the utility bills if Kenna takes one of the kittens that Ruth has in Ruth’s office. Kenna names her female kitten Ivy, who is merely used as a cutesy prop in the movie.
Kenna has difficulty finding a job because a lot of places won’t hire people who’ve been convicted of any crimes. She eventually gets a part-time job as a cashier at a grocery store, thanks to store employee Amy Matthews (played by Lainey Wilson), who has empathy for Kenna’s plight as a former prisoner who’s having problems getting a job. Amy confides in Kenna that Amy’s got some problems of her own: Amy recently rear-ended someone in a car accident, and Amy has no car insurance.
Throughout the movie, Kenna carries around stuffed journals full of letters that she’s written to Scotty over the years. She reads excerpts of these letters in constant voiceovers. Kenna has these journals with her when she walks into a bar that’s owned by Scotty’s best friend Ledger Ward (played by Tyriq Withers), who is like a surrogate uncle to Diem. Ledger and Kenna never met when Scotty was alive because Ledger was always busy doing something else.
And this is where the movie loses all credibility: When Kenna is in the bar and meets Ledger for the first time, Ledger doesn’t know who she is. If your best friend died in a vehicular manslaughter car accident, you’d want to know who the perpetrator is and what that person looks like. But in the world of “Reminders of Him,” Ledger never bothered to find out what Kenna looks like, even though her courtroom case was probably covered by the local news.
The movie’s flashbacks show Kenna looks exactly the same in the present day as she did when she was sentenced to prison. Therefore, the movie can’t use the excuse that Kenna’s physical appearance is drastically different from when she was in prison. It’s all just a contrivance for Kenna and Ledger to have that “meet cute” moment where they’re instantly attracted to each other without knowing their true identities and their connections to Scotty.
Kenna and Ledger flirt with each other during this “meet cute” moment. Kenna asks Ledger if he has any job openings. He says no. Ledger is a former NFL player whose football career ended because of a shoulder injury. The bar that Ledger owns used to be a bookstore that was a place where Kenna liked to go. A flashback shows another “meet cute” moment, when Kenna and Scotty met at the Dollar Den thrift store where she was a cashier at the time.
Kenna exits the bar but accidentally leaves her journals behind at the bar. When Ledger returns the journals to her, he says he didn’t read the journals, but he asks for her phone number. Kenna tells Ledger that she doesn’t have a phone, which is true. He finds it hard to believe, but he doesn’t seem that suspicious about why Kenna doesn’t have a phone. Kenna eventually gets a cell phone, but this scene is an example of how Ledger seems to be willfully ignorant.
Ledger finds out who Kenna is when she shows up unannounced and uninvited at the home of Patrick and Grace because Kenna is desperate to see Diem. Ledger happens to be there too. And that’s how Kenna finds out that Ledger was Scotty’s best friend. We’re supposed to believe that Scotty and Kenna were “in love,” and yet when Scott was alive, Kenna never thought of asking to see a photo of Scotty’s best friend, whom she had never met when Scotty was alive.
Even after finding out her identity, Ledger gives Kenna a part-time job at his bar. Patrick and Grace eventually put out a restraining order against Kenna. The rest of “Reminders of Him” plays out exactly like it shows in the movie’s trailer: Kenna and Ledger end up falling in love. They keep their romance a secret from Patrick, Grace and Diem. But you know where all of this is going, long before the movie’s trite and hokey ending.
Kenna and Ledger aren’t very convincing as a romantic couple, even without all the icky circumstances of their deception and how disrespectful their relationship is to deceased Scotty. And there’s also the matter of Ledger being Kenna’s boss, which is another problematic issue that’s barely addressed in the movie. Most of their relationship seems based on lust and loneliness, not true love.
It’s briefly mentioned that Ledger used to be engaged to a woman named Leah, who broke up with Ledger because she was jealous of Ledger’s close relationship with Diem. It’s another story contrivance because Kenna obviously won’t have a problem with Diem having a father figure like Ledger. It’s also a contrivance to make Ledger look sympathetic because Leah supposedly broke his heart.
“Reminders of Him” has supporting characters who are generic or formulaic and don’t add much to the story. Roman (played by Nicholas Duvernay) is Ledger’s close friend/co-worker, whose only purpose in the movie is just to be a sounding board for Ledger when Ledger moans and frets about his taboo romance with Kenna. Mary Anne (played by Hilary Jardine), another friend/co-worker of Ledger, is also a vague, underdeveloped character.
Lady Diana (played by Monika Myers) is a Paradise Apartments resident who is a casual acquaintance of Kenna. Lady Diana happens to have Down syndrome, and the movie makes her the “comic relief” of the story. It seems disrespectful of the “Reminders of Him” filmmakers to portray the movie’s only disabled character as a clownish character.
“Reminders of Him” is dreadfully tedious in showing this “forbidden romance” and erases a lot of the complications that would happen in real life because of this relationship. There’s nothing special about the acting performances in the movie. “Reminders of Him” exists in a fantasy bubble where people use modern technology but not when it comes to finding out basic information about their loved ones and their loved ones’ best friends or partners. Anyone with enough common sense and real-life experiences will find much of “Reminders of Him” to be a ridiculous story that’s an insult to people’s intelligence.
Universal Pictures will release “Reminders of Him” in U.S. cinemas on March 13, 2026.
