To All the Boys: Always and Forever: A Satisfying Conclusion to a Romantic and Colorful Trilogy

TO ALL THE BOYS IVE LOVED BEFORE 3. Noah Centineo as Peter Kavinsky, Lana Condor as Lara Jean Covey, in TO ALL THE BOYS IVE LOVED BEFORE 3. Cr. Katie Yu / Netflix © 2020

As the ending credits to the film start rolling, clips from all three movies start flashing on your screen and you can’t help but feel that you grew up with these characters, and (gasp!) has it been three years already? Yes, it’s been three years since audiences fell in love with Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) in ‘To All the Boys I Loved Before’ before seeing his flaws and hating on him, in the film’s sequel ‘To All the Boys PS I Still Love You’ so what will the verdict be for the third film?

The finale ‘To All the Boys: Always and Forever’ is the most mature of the films and the one that shows growth from our two lead characters and with all the traveling and big events happening the most exciting.

The film opens with Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and her family enjoying a spring break vacation in South Korea, plus points to fans of KPop for the songs used in the film (Gee from Girl’s Generation and Cherry Bullet’s ‘Q&A’ and Black Pink’s ‘Pretty Savage’) and the sight-seeing montage and for a world in quarantine, any sort of travel is very much welcome.

The audience learns that Lara Jean is anxiously waiting to confirm her admission into Stanford since Peter will be going to said university on a lacrosse scholarship. The couple plan to go to the same university, so they can avoid the whole ‘long distance thing’ all this, while Lara Jean hasn’t even considered what she wants, she can only see her perfect plan of going off to College with Peter, getting married, getting a house, having a family, you know, the whole ‘happily ever after bit’. Things come crashing down when Lara Jean doesn’t get into Stanford and this leads her to actually start thinking about what she wants as a person, and I guess it really is a relief that Lara Jean can separate herself as an individual, what she really wants, her hopes and dreams with the Lara Jean in the couple. From doe-eyed, obedient girlfriend who bakes pastries for her boyfriend, Lara Jean is thinking how good is the English Lit. program in this college and that’s a win! Kind of sad to have to consider it a win but I guess you can say that it is also character development, as we do see Lara Jean grow from being obsessed with love and romance to actually seeing herself grow in a different environment and she’s still in High School after all, so yes, we’re considering this a win!  

TO ALL THE BOYS IVE LOVED BEFORE 3. Lana Condor as Lara Jean Covey, In TO ALL THE BOYS IVE LOVED BEFORE 3. Cr. Katie Yu / Netflix © 2020

Now the question is, how will Peter, popular jock and grand-gesture boyfriend Peter going to take all of this?

It’s senior year and there is definitely a lot happening aside from college applications, there is the senior trip to New York City and of course-Prom! And (gasp!) A wedding! Relax! It’s not Lara Jean and Peter who’s getting married (yet) but her widowed Dad and his girlfriend- still yehey because lots of excuse for pretty things, decorations and what not and If you count the earlier trip to South Korea, it really is a jam packed finale.

It really is nice to see a story that we’ve followed come to a satisfying end and it’s not your typical and sappy ending but one that reflects how these two characters have grown-right in front of our eyes! And as I mentioned at the start, we see this in flashbacks from the first two movies! You can see that Noah put on some weight, probably bulking up for his role as Atom Smasher in the upcoming ‘Black Adam’ film. Also – Paul pointed out, sleepy Noah Centineo sounds like Mark Ruffallo, which is funny because they look alike! I kid you not, Google a picture of a young Mark Ruffallo and it’s basically Noah! They should have cast him as his Dad! That would have been a trip! A cozy way to spend Valentines-whether you have a special someone or you’re watching with friends or having a #SelfLove watch party-get ready for all the feels and the kilig! ‘To All The Boys: Always and Forever’ is now streaming on Netflix.