Netflix’s latest teen romantic comedy sees Lana Condor and Noah Centineo reprise their roles as high school lovebirds in the third and final installment of the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series. Based on the 2017 young adult novel by Jenny Han, who briefly cameos in a flashback scene, Always and Forever returns to the lively and endearing spirit of the first film, while also demonstrating much more emotional depth than the rest of the trilogy.
Directed by Michael Fimognari, who also helmed the second film in the series, Always and Forever takes place during the couple’s final year of high school, when Lara Jean Covey (Condor) travels to Seoul over spring break in order to reconnect with her Korean heritage. Accompanying her on this trip are Lara Jean’s two sisters, their father (John Corbett of My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Sex and the City fame), and his fiancée. Lara Jean video calls her boyfriend Peter (Centineo), who has been accepted to Stanford on a lacrosse scholarship, and expresses anxiety over her chances of admittance. Privately, Lara Jean worries even more about whether she and Peter will be able to stay together during college. When Lara Jean returns to Portland and learns that she has, in fact, been rejected from Stanford, her vision of a collegiate romance crumbles, and along with it her plans of becoming a successful novelist. Now she has to go to Berkeley! The horror! The film is off to a rocky start with this plotline, but once the focus shifts to Lara Jean’s introspection and path to self-discovery, Always and Forever becomes perhaps the most profound and insightful film in the trilogy.
On her school’s senior trip to New York (what is a senior trip?! what kind of a high school is this?) Lara Jean is surprised to realize that she loves the city, and that NYU might be a better choice for her than Berkeley. She struggles greatly with reconciling her love for Peter and her desire to do what is best for herself. Her decision of where to attend college is only one thing on Lara Jean’s mind; so, too, are the prom, her desire to lose her virginity to Peter, and her father’s upcoming wedding. The fulfillment of her father’s romantic relationship and the demise of her own is contrasted quite clearly; Lara Jean even mentions it in a voiceover. When Lara Jean ultimately decides to break up with Peter, she still doesn’t feel better, and she realizes that it doesn’t always feel good to make the right decision. The film is thus much more mature and realistic than the first two, even with its vibrant color palette and on-screen animations.
Always and Forever has much more of a purpose than the second film in the series, which saw Lara Jean question her devotion to Peter and flirt with a former middle school flame. In this film, no one stands in the way of her and Peter except for fate, maturation, and the 3,000 miles between Palo Alto and New York. Although the film can at times be beset by awkward dialogue and overly dramatic situations, it is ultimately quite heartwarming, and a fitting conclusion to Lara Jean and Peter’s romance.
3/5 STARS