It Ends With Us' Best Easter Egg Is A Finding Nemo Reference, And Justin Baldoni Told Me Exactly Why

While It Ends With Us is a faithful adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel, like any book-to-screen adaptation , change is inevitable. All the details from the novel couldn’t be put in the movie, and that meant taking out things like Lily’s journals and her and Atals’ love for Finding Nemo . However, when I spoke to the film’s director Justin Baldoni about It Ends With Us’ release on the 2024 movie schedule , I asked him about the Easter eggs in it, and he told me about a meaningful nod to the book's love of the Pixar movie.

My favorite Easter egg in this movie is easily the Finding Nemo poster, because the animated film is a favorite of mine. Taking out Lily and Atlas’ love for it was a big difference in It Ends With Us , however, they didn’t totally leave it behind. Baldoni told me during an interview for CinemaBlend that he wanted to “find a way to just sprinkle in” as many Easter eggs as possible, and that included a fun little Dory poster in Atlas’ restaurant as he explained:

He’s right, if you look very closely when Atlas and Lily meet up again at his restaurant Root, you can see a poster of a blue tang fish in the background, and there’s a quote about swimming forward. It’s not verbatim “just keep swimming,” but the sentiment is there. That was intentional to not be too spot on with it, as Baldoni told me:

In the book, the animated film is a beacon of hope for Lily and Atlas, because they both had difficult childhoods, and they always remind each other to, as Dory says, “just keep swimming.” The director and Ryle actor told me that he wanted to recognize that, and he figured it was a little hint “die-hard fans” of the book would “notice and hopefully appreciate.” And as a fan of the book myself, I did.

Along with the Finding Nemo poster, there’s also a little Nemo plushie in Lily’s nursery too, showing there's still a lot of love for the Pixar project in this film, even though it's not a major plot point.

Plus, while there were changes that “jarred” author Colleen Hoover , this was not one of them. She adored this thoughtful Easter egg. During my It Ends With Us interviews for CinemaBelnd , she told me how she reacted to the sweet Finding Nemo nod, saying:

As I stated in my review of It Ends With Us , this film is a faithful adaptation of the book. While changes are made, yes, its story overall is the same, and there are so many little Easter eggs and hints that allude to the source material, including this sweet one about Finding Nemo .

To go and see the film for yourself and find all the Easter eggs, you can catch It Ends With Us in theaters now.