This is the latest adaptation of a Colleen Hoover novel and, while it is shamelessly manipulative, it’s also undeniably effective – the kind of film that has tears streaming down your face despite yourself. At its centre is Kenna (Maika Monroe), an ex-con who has spent years in prison yet emerges as the most principled, honest and, in many ways, wronged character in the story. She has a five-year-old daughter she has never been allowed to see, as the child’s grandparents – the parents of her deceased partner – have taken guardianship.

As with many films of this kind, guilt becomes something open to interpretation, while Kenna’s capacity for love and redemption is never really in doubt. She forms a relationship with Ledger (Tyriq Withers), the best friend of her late partner, who has taken on the role of a surrogate uncle to the child. Much of the narrative depends on others smoothing Kenna’s path – helping her find work, guiding her reintegration – reinforcing the familiar message that if someone works hard enough and proves themselves morally worthy, redemption will follow.

There is, however, a strong element of romanticization in how the film presents grief and trauma. It is quite brazen in the way it presses emotional buttons. Even the setting carries irony: the apartment complex where Kenna lives is called Paradise, yet it’s rundown and modest, set against the striking natural beauty of Wyoming’s mountains. Much of the tension comes from Ledger trying to prevent Kenna from encountering her in-laws and daughter, knowing the consequences when the truth inevitably comes out.

And of course, this is a story that is always heading toward redemption. We sense from the outset that mother and daughter will eventually be reunited, yet when that moment arrives it is genuinely moving – all the more striking given how carefully engineered it feels. There are shades here of Nicholas Sparks, particularly in Kenna’s habit of keeping a notebook, journalling to her deceased partner as a way of processing her grief. It may be emotionally calculated, but it works.