Always and Forever Review
Movie series of To All the Boys
March 12, 2021
The final movie in the “To All the Boys” series was released on Netflix on Friday, February 12th. Like many teenage girls in America, I have been a fan of this series since the release of the first movie. It is an easy romance to turn on for some background noise, and Lana Condor, the actress who plays Lara Jean, is an absolute gem.
“To All the Boys: Forever and Always, Lara Jean” embarks on Peter Kavinsky and Lara Jean Covey’s struggles as they approach their high school graduation. They both plan to attend Stanford University, but their path of intent is disrupted after Lara Jean gets rejected. She still has her safety schools to fall back on, but really wanted to end up at the same college as Peter.
During their senior trip in New York City, Lara Jean develops second thoughts about attending a university close to Stanford. After attending a party at NYU, she ends up fitting in with the students and begins to question whether or not attending Berkeley will be the best choice for her. Yes, she wants to be close to Peter, but Lara Jean also has a hard time ignoring her own personal desires.
I won’t delve too much into how the movie ends, but it concludes with Lara Jean making the best choice for herself. She pursues her dreams, and she doesn’t need for things to be ideal in order to be happy.
I thought this movie was a really great way to end the series. Some have argued that it left things too open-ended, and I have seen a few comments on the Netflix Instagram complaining about how Lara Jean and Peter should have ended up with less of a distance between them. Lara Jean has always fantasized about a perfect ending, and while this may have not been the ideal ending to her high school arc, it was nice to see her pursue a path that was best for her personal ambitions and also came full circle. She and Peter now can fall back on what originally brought them together: love letters.
I thought the movie was pretty good. I am not the biggest fan of Noah Cinteneo, but the actors in these movies have stayed consistent and true to the characters they embody. Overall, I’d rate the final film an 8/10.