In the past few years, many popular books have hit the big screen and become big successes. Whether you are a fan of thrillers, romances, or mysteries, there’s something for everyone. It is definitely enjoyable to see some classic stories reimagined on screen.

The Housemaid is one of my all-time favorite books, and it was super exciting to see it in the movies. The story follows a housemaid named Millie with a criminal background, played by Sydney Sweeney, who begins to work for the Winchester family and discovers the dark secrets behind their glamorous lifestyle. Amanda Seyfried plays the wife who seems to be going crazy while the charismatic husband is played by Brandon Sklenar. As someone who read the book before watching the movie, I felt that the movie lacked some details, and certain parts of the storyline went in a different direction. However, I think some of the changes were necessary in order for the movie to be as entertaining as it was. The ending changed in terms of how conflicts were resolved and what happened to some characters. Grace Feeney ’29 said, “I liked how they changed the ending.” Without spoiling anything, the only big thing that was changed about the ending was how a main character died and what happened after. For anyone who read the book, the small differences were clear but the plot still flowed the same. While I really enjoyed seeing this as a movie, I definitely thought the book was better. There was just no way that the movie would be able to build the tension that Freida McFadden did in her book. The movie is worth seeing, but I highly recommend reading the book as well.

Shifting to a very different genre, in August of 2024 we saw Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni star in an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s book It Ends with Us. It’s a story about a woman named Lily who moves to Boston for a fresh start and falls in love with a man named Ryle. Their relationship quickly becomes abusive which mirrors her mother and father’s relationship. The story is not only told through Lily’s current perspective but also through old diary entries, which add to our understanding of her past. This adaptation has been facing a lot of controversy recently. Not only was there conflict between Lively and Baldoni due to creative differences, but viewers were also worried about how the serious themes are portrayed. Fans believed that certain marketing and casting choices are downplaying the seriousness of the topics in the story. Even with all the surrounding controversy, I applaud the movie for the ways in which it portrayed some very serious themes. The movie stays true to what happens in the book while making it not too heavy for viewers to enjoy. While the storyline stays the same aside from a few minor details, the pacing in the movie is much faster, which I think takes away from the overall development. Certain moments in the movie that were meant to be surprising came out of nowhere and were missing the buildup that the book gave them. I feel that the book was definitely better than the movie, where Hoover does an excellent job of addressing serious issues while also telling a heartwarming story.

Finally, just a few weeks ago, a movie version of Emily Henry’s book People We Meet on Vacation came to Netflix. The story follows polar-opposite friends who, up until a fight two years earlier, would take a summer trip together every year. Both the book and movie go back and forth showing their various past vacations and their current lives. The story follows one of the friends, Poppy, desperately trying to rekindle their friendship with one last vacation. This movie has been getting a lot of attention lately, and it is clear why. The characters are likeable, and it’s a simple romcom that anyone could enjoy. The characters are definitely the best part of this story. Poppy, played by Emily Bader, is instantly charming, eccentric, and impossible to dislike. While Alex, played by Tom Blythe, may come off as grumpy at first, you can’t help but love him by the end of the story. The book definitely added more depth to both characters, but I don’t think that it really affected the plot. This was an adaptation with quite a few differences. The main one that stuck out to me was the difference in location for one of the vacations. For a book that focused a lot on travel this seemed pretty important. This is a rare opinion of mine, but I honestly thought the movie was better in this case. Given the basic storyline, it felt better suited for a movie than a book. 

At the end of day, all three stories are worth your time. So if you’re a reader, grab any one of these books. If you’re a movie lover, grab some popcorn!