It Ends With Us dragged for using a harrowing song about cannibalism in the first 10 minutes

A lot has been said about It Ends With Us and its very loaded and stacked soundtrack, but for me the most notable choice of artist who is used is Ethel Cain. If you don’t know Ethel Cain, you’re about to never forget her. The acclaimed and celebrated artist released her debut album in 2022, and has got an army of dedicated fans. This is the most mainstream her music has got yet however, and she features twice in the It Ends With Us soundtrack. One instance is the usage of her Spotify Sessions cover of Everytime by Britney Spears – and the second is the wildest choice I think I’ve seen a movie make in eons. It Ends With Us decides to use Strangers by Ethel Cain in the first 10 minutes of the film – a song about cannibalism and murder. Yikes.

Um… What?

Okay. Some context. Ethel Cain released her debut album Preacher’s Daughter in 2022. The album is a concept record with a narrative, and Strangers is the final track on the album. The album tells the story of Ethel Cain (a fictional persona the real artist Hayden Silas Anhedönia sings as), the titular preacher’s daughter. Ethel Cain meets a lover and runs away with him. However, the lover ends up murdering her and cannibalising her body. Grim, I know. Strangers is actually sung after Ethel is dead and her body lies in a freezer in the killer’s basement. Not really the most ideal song to use at the start of your movie.

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Lyrics from Strangers include “In your basement, I grow cold / Thinking back to what I was always told / Don’t talk to strangers or you might fall in love. Freezer bride, your sweet divine / You devour like smoked bovine hide / How funny, I never considered myself tough.” Yes, that is a sly joke about her flesh being tough.

“If I’m turning in your stomach and I’m making you feel sick” and “You’re so handsome when I’m all over your mouth” also feature.

I don’t know if this song was used for the violent themes that make It Ends With Us’ plot, but it still feels inappropriate to use a song that is so horrific and so tied to the narrative of Preacher’s Daughter in a film like this. Twitter is utterly bemused by how It Ends With Us used a song by Ethel Cain about cannibalism.

strangers by ethel cain needledrop within 10 minutes of it ends with us pic.twitter.com/M7WPL4iNh0

— annie (@kissinboothgirl) August 8, 2024

Like, no one can really believe it.

don’t tell me they are using strangers by ethel cain in the ‘it ends with us’ movie, don’t piss me off

— ari (@arctrzz) July 20, 2024

I don’t think even they know.

Not the it ends with us trailers using a song from Ethel Cain’s album that literally has themes of religious trauma, murder, and cannibalism. What the hell is the movie about

— kim 🍅🪶 (@KimbortLy) July 31, 2024

How is Strangers used in It Ends With Us?

Right at the start, when Lily drives home from the funeral and meets Ryle on the roof. It’s all a bit bizarre. It was also used in a trailer.

New trailer for ‘IT ENDS WITH US’ starring Blake Lively, featuring ‘Strangers’ by Ethel Cain. pic.twitter.com/g0ZlYjHvEZ

— Pop Base (@PopBase) July 19, 2024

Just a weird one, really!

For all the latest news and drama surrounding the interview Blake Lively did for It Ends With Us, plus drops, quizzes and memes, like The Tab on Facebook. 

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