iMessage opens to conversation list instead of previously opened conversation

I’m having an issue with iMessage on iOS 14.2.1. Whenever I open iMessage, from the app switcher, the Home Screen, or by swiping across the home bar at the bottom of the screen, the app launches by showing the entire conversation list instead of the conversation that had just recently been open. This occurs even if I used a different app or returned to the Home Screen for less than a second. iMessage even shows a brief transition animation from the conversation I was in to the conversation list, as though I had swiped from the left edge of the screen or pressed the back arrow in the upper left of the conversation to go back to the conversation list, though not quite, since the conversation list fades in instead of coming from the left edge of the screen. Other apps besides iMessage remain in their last opened state without issue.

Because I cannot attach a screen recording, I’ve attached screenshots of a screen recording I have made demonstrating this issue. Using the home bar at the bottom of the screen to open the previously opened app, I open iMessage to a conversation that I was previously in. Before the app switching animation can finish, iMessage begins a screen transition from the conversation I wish to return to back to the conversation list. Before I can tap on anything, I’m frustratingly left looking at the conversation list instead of the conversation I wanted to return to.

I can attach more screenshots to demonstrate the behavior occurring when using the app switcher or when opening iMessage from the Home Screen, although the relevant visuals are mostly identical.

This is not how iMessage used to work; how do I get iMessage to continue its previous behavior of remaining in the state that it was left in when I reopen it? I have already tried force closing iMessage and restarting my phone.

[Image Edited by Moderator to Remove Personal Information]