The Will by Kristen Ashley Passionflix Movie Review

The Will by Kristen Ashley on Passionflix

Passionflix is a subscription-based streaming service that takes our favorite romance books and makes them into movies. Use code THEWILL for $2 off per month for a limited time.

The Will is one of my all-time favorite books from my all-time favorite author, Kristen Ashley. So when I heard it was optioned for Passionflix, I literally plotzed right then and there. But there was also some fear it would ruin the book for me. The audio version of The Will is 24 hours! How the heck would they fit it into less than two? Passionflix has a great track record for following very closely to the books, and I am so pleased at how well they did.

Our little watch party for The Will.

First of all, we need to talk about the setting. Kristen Ashley is so descriptive, that as a reader you can’t help but have a perfect picture in your head, so it was almost eerie that they found a house that was EXACTLY the house in my head.

Now can we talk about Jake Spear please? OH.MY.GOD. Chris McKenna was exactly the Jake in my head. He was sexy as hell and we never complained about the numerous naked butt scenes. It’s a surprise we haven’t seen more of this guy around. Megan Dodds, who played Josie Malone, did a great job of portraying the transformation Josephine goes through from sharp and severe to soft and warm. I also thought the kids were cast great.

I think that Passionflix put in every crucial scene from the book and left out some storyline that would have required a longer movie with more casting, settings and a higher budget. Not having Jake’s ex was a great chunk to cut out without losing the spirit of the story.

The Great Stuff:

The Screenplay edited out just the right stuff.
It stuck closer to the book than I ever imagined.
The location was plucked right from the book.
The casting of Jake and Josie, especially Jake, could not have been more spot on.
The kids were great.
Jake’s ass.
Josie’s transformation.
Jakes ass (worth repeating).

The Things I Didn’t Love as Much:

Henry was not what I expected AT ALL. I expected a well put together dapper guy and he was the opposite, but it actually made sense for the jet-setting photographer.
Mickey was about 15 years younger than I pictured him.
Josie’s wardrobe needed help!
There were some continuity issues with the editing but that’s being a nit-picker.
I know some people were unhappy that there was no adoption at the end, but then Jake’s ex would have had to have been explained therefore cutting out some other part we all loved.

The Down & Dirty:

All in all The Will truly exceeded my expectations. From the screenplay to the setting to the casting , I think Passionflix did a phenomenal job! There is no way a movie can ever live up to a favorite book, but let me tell you, The Will came closer to the book than any other book-to-movie adaptation I have seen. Considering these aren’t big-budget blockbusters, I am more than impressed with the outcome, and will continue to support Passionflix so that more of my favorite books will be made into movies.

Since I am a book, not a movie reviewer I hesitate to star rate The Will, because I want to give it 5 stars just for being made! In reality it falls between a 4 and a 4.5. Tell me, what did you think? I would LOVE to hear your thoughts in the comments!

See my rare 10 star review for The Will
See my Complete Guide to Kristen Ashley