Lara Jean’s style? Amazing. BlackPink’s “Let’s Kill This Love”? Incredible. Admitting that relationships are not meant to be perfect? Revolutionary. If any of these things interest you, you’re gonna love P. S. I Still Love You. Overall, it was a really good movie, however, I must admit that I spent half the movie really happy and the other half very stressed. You’ve been warned.
*Spoilers ahead*
“P. S. I Still Love You” follows Lara Jean and her life as she enters a relationship for the first time. You might expect it to be as cute, giggly, and romantic as the first one, and while it does have those elements, it also portrays Lara Jean realizing that life doesn’t have a happily ever after.
I mean… life has its happy moments, but that doesn’t mean those bad moments are inexistent. That reality hits Lara Jean really hard. She forms part of a love triangle between Peter Kavinsky and John Ambrose McClaren. Between this complication and her feeling self-conscious about Peter’s past relationship with Gen, her own relationship is deteriorating. I am delighted to tell you, though, that in the end, she understands that she loves Peter more than anything and that their relationship doesn’t need to imitate the movies because they don’t represent how relationships blossom in real life.
I honestly loved the way they made this movie more realistic by treating Lara Jean’s feelings and insecurities as valid. They are real things an average person would feel in their life. She feels less-experienced than Peter and sometimes struggles thinking he’s still in love with Gen. What adds to those insecurities is that Peter—a popular jock that likes going to parties—is very different from Lara Jean, while John Ambrose is more like her ideal person (a quiet, intelligent guy that’s part of model U. N.)
I also think it’s essential that it addresses the theme of liking someone that suddenly came from her past while still being in a relationship, which is usually omitted in romcoms to give out the illusion of destined, perfect “true love”. Lana Condor presents these emotions in such a realistic and believable way that it doesn’t make us question Lara Jean’s feelings being real or just a filler to eventually make another movie.
Now, the aesthetic of the movie is absolutely amazing. Lara Jean’s outfits make me want to go on a shopping spree. We have the same fabulous colors as in the first movie (yellows, pinks, reds, whites, and other pretty shades), and Lara Jean combines them in such a fantastic way. We also have a really great soundtrack that adds to the moods of the story (I personally have been listening to “About Love” by MARINA non-stop ever since the movie came out.) You should have seen my roommate and I screaming when “Let’s Kill This Love” by BlackPink started playing when Lara Jean’s was getting ready.
Overall, this movie was a great film that tackled some significant themes that are typically not mentioned in romcoms while still having fun moments. If you’re only hoping for a fun romantic comedy that doesn’t have other elements other than being fun and romantic, maybe this movie is not going to be for you, but I personally loved it.