A convenient release date of Feb 12th being so close to V-day meant To All the Boys: Always and Forever, skyrocketed in views during Valentines weekend (guilty).
Whether you spent V-day with the gals or you’ve somehow convinced (forced) your s/o to watch a teenage rom-com, there’s much to talk about when watching the third and final instalment of Netflix’s adaptation of Jenny Han’s YA novel of the same name.
**Warning: Spoilers ahead**
The To All The Boys: Forever & Always begins with the continuation of Lara Jean’s family trip to Seoul, which honestly felt a bit random but it’s great to see the beautiful Seoul cityline celebrated in an American movie. Lara Jean’s younger sister, Kitty also discovers boys, which is very cute and we can’t complain.
Lara Jean complains on a phone call to loverboy Peter about how people in Korea just assume she speaks Korean – which she can’t – so she feels out of place although she is Korean, a sentiment Kiwi-Asian’s alike will easily relate to no doubt.
A short complaint after, we move on swiftly from Lara Jean’s mini identity crisis, because boy that is way too deep for a rom-com.
Majority of the film we anticipate Lara Jean’s college acceptances as she hopes to get accepted at Stanford so she can continue to spend her high school sweetheart life with Peter in college.
Oh yeah – Peter has a scholarship at Stanford for Lacrosse.
Surprise, Lara Jean does not get accepted at Stanford. She accidentally lies about getting in (you’ll see why when you watch it), and it all goes downhill from there.
On a school trip, she decides to visit NYU and randomly gets invited to a super hip and cool party – okay, now surely a stretch from reality, and she enjoys it? Fast-forward, she falls in love with the city, her and Peter’s relationship is over, oops no they’re not, they realise long-distance won’t be the end all be all and….the end.
The third instalment of the To All the Boys franchise is definitely the weakest in terms of plot, wow-factor and everything really. I thoroughly enjoyed the first and second movies, so me, more than anyone else, wanted this review to be a positive.
Some positives are the setting, props, and costume. Lara Jean was dressed in a gorgeous prom gown, her bedroom is a real depiction of what most teenage bedrooms look like (a mess, but filled to the brim with personality), and the bright pink couch Lara Jean and co hauled into a subway because… why not?
OUR RATING: 2/5
