In the Colleen Hoover Cinematic Universe, movies have somewhat vague, interchangeable titles: "Reminders of Him," "It Ends With Us," "Regretting You." They could easily also be "Regretting Him," "Reminders of Us," or "It Ends With You."

That sense of rotational plug-and-play fits into "Reminders of Him," a soft but subdued romantic drama about loss and healing, which fits squarely inside Hoover's world.

Her stories deal with Women Who Are Going Through It, tales of heartbreak and trauma which play with sweeping emotions; they're not subtle but they are watchable, going down with the ease (and disposability) of a summertime beach read.

In "Reminders," Maika Monroe ("Longlegs," "It Follows") plays Kenna, who, when we meet her, is just getting out of prison following her role in a car accident that killed her boyfriend, Scotty (Rudy Pankow). (It involved edibles, and she fled the scene.)

She's heading back to her hometown of Laramie, Wyoming (Calgary stands in for the Cowboy State), where she has a daughter she's never met, who was taken from her after she gave birth in prison, and who is being raised by Scotty's parents, Grace (Lauren Graham) and Patrick (Bradley Whitford).

Helping raise the now soon-to-be 6-year-old, Diem (Zoe Kosovic), is Ledger (Tyriq Withers, "Him"), Scotty's childhood best friend, who runs a local bar. Kenna and Ledger have never met — he was off playing for the Denver Broncos when she and Scotty were dating — so they don't know each other when Kenna wanders into Ledger's bar one night and orders a coffee. (It's a stretch, yes.)

Kenna is living in a motel where she has a nosy neighbor, Lady Diana (Monika Myers), who is the film's well-deployed comic relief. Kenna's goal is to find a job in town and work up the courage to approach Grace and Patrick — even though they want nothing to do with her and are actively trying to keep their distance from her — so that she can meet her daughter, even though she has no legal standing to do so.

Ledger takes a liking to Kenna and becomes a bridge between her and Scotty's parents. And also a little bit more, when all those rides home he's giving her late at night turn into something more serious.

But "Reminders of Him" doesn't turn too serious or come off as labored, despite the heavy themes at play.

Director Vanessa Caswill (2023's "Love at First Sight") admirably steers things away from melodrama, mostly focusing on the burgeoning love story between Kenna and Ledger, keeping the side plots on a low simmer and stopping them from boiling over, which they could easily do. The seasoned Graham and Whitford help out by not ratcheting up their performances.

Monroe and Withers are a decent pairing, both servicing roles which could have been set ablaze for emotional fireworks, even though both are nearly upstaged by Withers' character's remarkable vintage orange Ford F-250, which steals nearly every scene it's in. But it says something about the approach here, the middle-of-America world Caswill and Hoover create (Hoover co-wrote the screenplay with Lauren Levine), that a truck can become a key piece of window dressing.

"Reminders of Him" doesn't set up its audience for tonal whiplash like "It Ends With Us" or exist in a state of emotional delusion like "Regretting You." It underplays its hand, which ultimately works to its benefit, and ours.

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'REMINDERS OF HIM'

Grade: B-

MPA rating: PG-13 (for sexual content, strong language, drug content, some violent content, and brief partial nudity)

Running time: 1:54

How to watch: In theaters March 13

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