“To All the Boys: Always and Forever” — the final film in Netflix’s romantic comedy trilogy, based on Jenny Han’s young-adult系列丛书——解决青少年电影不是仪式sage: Lara Jean Covey and Peter Kavinsky are graduating from high school and hoping to stay together through college.
Peter (Noah Centineo) has gotten into Stanford University, where he will play lacrosse. Lara Jean (Lana Condor) wants to attend Stanford too — she’s already planned their whole future together, from wearingStanford hats in the library to the publishing of her first romance novel. But this plan comes to a screeching halt when Stanford rejects her, sending her into an anxiety spiral at the thought of a long-distance relationship.
Fans of the previous films will find comfort in escaping into Lara Jean’s supportive family life — the unconditional love of her cool dad and sisters — all filmed in that Wes Anderson-esque, twee color palette. The Lara Jean we know and love is still scrapbooking, baking and dressing in vintage finds, and Peter is still planning cute dates for her, like revisiting the diner where they signed their first fake dating contract. But the impending college decision makes these moments bittersweet and harder to enjoy.
So, as the final film in the trilogy, “Always and Forever” struggles to balance two conflicting goals: Lara Jean’s growth as a character, and a romantic comedy happy ending.
The “To All the Boys” films have always worked well enough as stand-alone romantic comedies, providing comfort food with enough dialogue about race (Lara Jean is biracial, Korean American and white) to feel more substantial than their all-white predecessors. However, zooming out across the trilogy reveals a clearer story of Lara Jean’s coming-of-age.
The first film worked so well because Lara Jean’s dating saga helped her gain confidence. The second film, if weaker, also taught Lara Jean some valuable lessons about dating and friendship. By this third installment, Lara Jean isn’t pining for a hypothetical boyfriend anymore. She now has to figure out the details of staying together, which isso much of what adult life actually is. Even her daydreams are less fantastical. Where the prior films have her re-enacting love scenes in period costumes, her “Always and Forever” daydreams look more or less like the American dream: marriage, a home, a child, a career.
Consequently, this film is heavier than its predecessors. Falling in love is more fun to watch than trying to stay in love, and growing up can be tough.
The film lays on the nostalgia through yearbook signings and prom night, and plenty of references to memories from prior films. And Peter processes the trauma of his father abandoning the family when he was young.
To their credit, “To All the Boys” films haven’t shied away from serious topics. They’ve been good at teasing out the way teen drama can actually harm young adults (cyberbullying, social anxiety). The films have also engaged with trauma, as the death of Lara Jean’s mother — who represents the sisters’ connection to their Korean heritage — is always part of the films’ focus. But earlier films began and ended in high school, with a smaller scope for character growth, and “Always and Forever” really wants us to look forward.
“You can’t save this relationship by not growing,” Lara Jean’s father advises her about Peter.
In this way, “Always and Forever” is a smarter, more sophisticated angle for a coming-of-age film, as Lara Jean falls in love with New York City (she applied to New York University, and visited the city on a school trip) and gets excited about her future.
But a “happy ending” undermines these lessons. There might have been a way to tackle it more realistically, but the film ends up abruptly reaffirming fairy-tale ideas of the transcendence of a first love, undoing much of Lara Jean’s personal growth and stealing some of that joy of starting something new.
三部曲不能复述自己的爱情故事many times — and not even the comforts of the “To All the Boys” world can make that outcome satisfying.
M“To All the Boys: Always and Forever”:Young adult romantic comedy. Starring Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish, Anna Cathcart and John Corbett. (Not rated. 109 minutes.) Streaming on Netflix starting Friday, Feb. 12.