The third and final installment of the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before film series, To All the Boys: Always and Forever, premiered on Netflix on February 12, right on time for Valentine’s Day, wrapping up the hit series with a big pink bow.
The To All the Boys movies have always been aware of what they are: romantic, feel-good love stories about a high school couple, Lara Jean and Peter, who start fake-dating and accidentally fall in love. After the second movie, P.S. I Still Love You fell flat with a contrived love triangle, I was uncertain about this one, but it exceeded my expectations.
In this third movie, they are in their senior year of college, and their plan to go to Stanford together is derailed when Lara Jean gets rejected (we won’t talk about how unrealistic it is for Peter to get in over her, even if it was for lacrosse). Although they quickly amended their plans by agreeing that LJ could stay close and go to Berkeley, a class trip to New York makes LJ fall in love with NYU. She is left to choose between going to California with Peter and indulging her big-city fantasies in NYC.
It is easy to classify these movies as cheesy chick flicks you watch for a laugh, but this not just an oversimplification but also a by-product of a piece of entertainment mostly consumed by teenage girls.
As we know too well, a movie, book, or music genre that teenage girls love is automatically categorized as bubble gum, mainstream and overrated. I could write an essay about this alone, but I digress.
The truth is that while these movies are cute and lighthearted, they delve into universal themes that go deeper than high school romance, and Always and Forever may be the best example of this exploration so far.
Everyone can relate to the struggle between making the safe choice and taking a plunge into the unknown or being torn between doing what others expect and doing what makes you happy. LJ makes her choice carefully and with maturity, defying the stereotype of main female characters in movies like this, making reckless decisions. Peter and LJ have honest, respectful conversations, which is refreshing compared to the petty fights that some films pass off as a plot.
Meanwhile, Lara Jean’s family goes through their own journey. She and her sisters, Kitty and Margot, close as ever, help each other deal with their dad remarrying several years after their mom’s death. The girls support Lara Jean through making her choice and dealing with the outcome, knowing that they will always have each other.
So no, Always and Forever doesn’t have a groundbreaking plot or the most innovative themes, but it is completely sincere and uplifting. No matter how skeptical of teenage love, it’s impossible not to root for Peter and Lara Jean’s happy ending in this perfect ending to a modern classic of a series.