Well, it's that time. As with every great love story there is a beginning, a middle, and an end, and we have reached the end of Lara Jean Covey's story in To All the Boys I've Loved Before with Netflix's third installment to the series, To All the Boys: Always and Forever. I have loved the entire movie adaptation of Jenny Han's series of books as much as I enjoyed reading them. In fact, I felt a lot of what the movies did elevated some of the stories and characters' development in the books (Peter is more endearing in the movies than in the books in my opinion). Of course, I also miss some of the things that happen in the books that I wish appeared in the movies (the Halloween scene in the first book is a good example), but it didn't change my feelings about them.
It's strange to believe that the first movie came out three years ago in 2018 and how unexpected its success was unless you were a fan of the books. It was a time when Crazy Rich Asians came out the same summer and Asian representation was starting to come out more into the fold of mainstream entertainment. No longer was the Asian actor playing the best friend or supporting character - they were the leading star, and in a present day set story no less, and audiences were responding positively. Whether you agree or not, you cannot deny that To All the Boys I've Loved Before and its star, Lana Condor, as well as author Jenny Han were a part of bringing in more diversity. So, it's bittersweet to say goodbye to the story, its characters, and the people who brought them to life but it's amazing to see how far it's all come and what we got out of it.
To All the Boys: Always and Forever catches up with Lara Jean and her boyfriend, Peter Kavinsky, at the end of their senior year. They both plan to attend Stanford University in the hopes of staying together and maintaining their relationship after high school. Peter has already been accepted through a lacrosse scholarship and Lara Jean is patiently waiting on her acceptance. She later finds out that she has been declined admission, but is accepted into UC Berkeley, which is only an hour away. However, during a senior trip to New York, she soon realizes that she may actually want to attend New York University instead. Only Lara Jean can decide what is best for herself and her own future, but will also have to face what that will mean for her and Peter.
Having just finished watching the movie, I can say that this last movie is my second favorite of the series, with the first still being at the top of my list because it is the one that started it all. This third film felt fun while still striking a balance between the playful moments and the serious underlining themes about change and growing up. I liked how we got to see Lara Jean and Peter as couple and tackling important questions about their relationship. Although I liked the second movie, To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You, it felt more centered on Lara Jean getting adjusted to being a girlfriend and felt a little somber because of her confusing feelings about John Ambrose that created a gap between her and Peter. With Always and Forever, it was focused back on Lara Jean and Peter, which is what made the first movie so great. I also liked how they were trying to figure out who they were as couple, such as what their meet-cute was and what their song is and how they tried comparing themselves to classic rom-coms, which was quite meta when you think about it. It was also nice to finally see Peter's relationship with his father, played by Henry Thomas (Elliott from E.T.). It's a relationship that's complicated and has been alluded to previously, and how it was presented added to both Peter's growth and the story's main dilemma. There were a few differences of course between the book and the movie, but much of those changes was well done and streamlined the story giving us a very satisfying ending.
*Spoilers ahead*
The Trip to South Korea
I remember when the trailer first dropped, a friend of mine was excited to see the Covey girls go international and travel to South Korea. I was as well since in the books it's only mentioned but never explored.
The film opens with Lara Jean and her sisters, Margot and Kitty, along with their father, Dan, and his now new girlfriend, Trina Rothschild, whom we met in the second movie, spending their Spring Break in Seoul, South Korea. During the trip they visit Seoul Tower to find the love lock that their mother had placed when she went there with their father. Their father also shares that he plans on proposing to Trina and wanted to let his daughters know, which they approve of. There is a lot of bonding moments between the three sisters that was missed throughout the first two movies and the trip made up for it.
In the book, which is actually entitled Always and Forever, Lara Jean, their father decides to send the girls to Korea with their grandmother so that they could connect with their Korean heritage. The trip is scheduled during the summer before Lara Jean begins college in the fall, which disappoints her as it would mean her summer with Peter would be further cut short.
I actually preferred the movie rearranging the trip to take place during the spring than the summer. Apart from how gorgeous the opening montage was and how we got to see the family all together, it also set the tone of the movie. As I said earlier, this third movie felt more fun than its predecessor and that is in part to the trip featured. There is also a short montage I liked where Lara Jean imagined getting into Stanford so she has this daydream of her life with Peter and their future. In it she saw herself becoming a best-selling author after penning a book called "Woah Woah Woah.," which was funny. Speaking of, I don't think we ever heard Peter say "woah, woah, woah" again since the first movie.
Peter and Lara Jean's College Plans
So, there is this thing I have sometimes about how movies often have their characters going to well-known colleges which in real life are actually hard to get into. My theory is that it is probably a way to give a quick fix on what college the characters are attending without picking something too obscure that audiences wouldn't know.
In the movie, Peter and Lara Jean want to attend Stanford. Lara Jean gets into UC Berkeley as an alternate option, but ultimately decides to go to NYU after exploring the city during the senior trip and spending time with some college students at a party. In the book, which actually takes place in Virginia instead of Portland, Peter and Lara Jean plan to attend University of Virginia. Lara Jean also doesn't get in, but gets into the College of William and Mary, which is also a short distance away and plans to transfer to University of Virginia after freshman year. She also had applied to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but is wait-listed. Even though she has decided to attend the College of William and Mary, she and Chris visit the UNC campus after she learns that she has been removed from the wait-list. She ends up having a great time and sees herself studying there and ultimately chooses to go there instead.
When you consider the movie changing the setting from Virginia to Portland, Oregon then it's understandable why they would also change the schools Peter and Lara Jean want to go to. Apart from this however, by making Peter attend Stanford and Lara Jean choosing to attend NYU it gives more gravitas to the problem they face of having a long-distanced relationship, making their situation clear to the viewers than if the schools had been University of Virginia and UNC.
The Prom
As is the standard convention with senior year, the prom is one of the most important events before graduation. In the book, Lara Jean's birthday actually falls on the same day as prom. So, with the help of her friends, Peter arranges to set up the diner like the ending scene in Sixteen Candles to celebrate Lara Jean's birthday. He legitimately recreates the scene where Molly Ringwald's Samantha Baker is sitting on the table with Jake Ryan with a birthday cake between them and it is the sweetest thing, especially considering how much Lara Jean's life has changed since dating Peter.
In the movie, we get some nice scenes at prom but the birthday scene is eliminated. Instead, the film explores Lara Jean and Peter entering the next level of their relationship after prom, which is also in the book but actually takes place during Senior Beach Week. It plays out the same way as the book with Peter turning her down, but he also decides to break up with her out of fear that they were already going their separate ways. It's a much more crushing scene than what happens in Beach Week, especially when we a get long slow lingering shot of Lara Jean breaking down. She's trying to hold it in and let it out, but she cannot or does not want to because it would mean that they were really over.
Lara Jean and Gen's Relationship
One of my favorite changes in the last movie from the second book was Lara Jean and Gen's relationship. I always thought it was one of Lara Jean's low points in the book, P.S. I Still Love You, when she starts getting antagonistic towards Gen when they're playing Assassins. In the second movie, they revisit their contentious relationship but give it closure, which I appreciated. They may never be best friends as they were when they were younger, but at least they have grown and can acknowledge what they used to have.
Their relationship comes back again in this film and I liked how it was handled. Since the last movie, Gen and Lara Jean have gotten along much better, with Gen even makes a friendly comment about Lara Jean's trip to South Korea. There is also a callback to a scene from the first movie that shows how much they've changed. During their senior trip, Gen visits NYU, which she has decided to attend. She invites Lara Jean to a party and it is there that Lara Jean begins to reevaluate her college choice. They also share a fun moment helping a student steal back her couch from her ex-boyfriend and transport it through the subway. After the trip, Lara Jean confides in Gen about NYU admitting her indecision and Gen genuinely shares her opinion of how she noticed Lara Jean loved New York. Throughout the rest of the movie, there are moments here and there where the two have clearly reconciled and it was definitely great to see since in the books their relationship is still a little strained. They acknowledge each other cordially in the books, but you can tell that they have moved on from each other whereas in the movie there is a sense that their relationship has healed and that a friendship can be renewed if they choose to.
Margot and Trina Rothschild
The more I think about it, there was a lot of drama in the book than I realized and one of them surrounded Margot's feelings about her father remarrying. In the book since Margot has been away attending university in Scotland, she never got to witness her father develop a relationship with their neighbor, Trina Rothschild. When she returns home and learns that they are getting married, she is visibly dismayed to which at one point she rebels by insisting she and her new boyfriend, Ravi, share the same room in their house. It takes some time for Margot to accept Trina, especially since Margot is still attached to the memory of her mother, but by the end she welcomes Trina to the family.
The movie doesn't cover Margot's initial feelings about Trina since she approves of her father's proposal. It is subtly hinted though that she knows it will take some adjusting to when Trina begins to move into their house and prepare for the wedding. As there is a considerable time jump between this movie and the previous one, where the last movie took place around the second half of Lara Jean's junior year and this one takes place at the end of her senior year, it makes sense that Margot would have gotten to know Trina in the time in between. So, by this point they have already established a good relationship. Also, since the whole series is centered on Lara Jean, Margot's sub-story with Trina would have taken away focus from the main plot.
The Ending and the Future
As I have said, the great thing about this movie was how it went back to refocus the story on Lara Jean and Peter. Their problem about what their relationship will be after high school is honest from a realistic standpoint. In the books, the couple's quandary over college not only affected them but their family as well to at which point Peter's mother suggests that Lara Jean break up with Peter since he's considering transferring to her school and losing his scholarship just to be with her. There is also a part during Trina's bachelorette party when Lara Jean gets drunk over the situation. It's messy and not the best moment for both characters, so I was glad that was taken out.
Instead, the movie gives us a charming and sweet ending that matches the last part of the book and the conclusion's sentimental tone. Peter meets with his father and after a tough discussion about how he felt about him leaving them they make up and decide to work on their relationship. The scene is crucial as Peter's feelings about not being chosen, in the case with his father leaving, is similar to how he feels about Lara Jean picking NYU. Following this, he visits her after her father's wedding with his version of a love letter about how he wants to support her, not hold her back, and a new contract written in her high school yearbook. He also shares his memory of when they first met as kids finally defining their meet-cute that Lara Jean had been hoping they had. As opposed to the book, they do end up taking their relationship further.
After graduation, Lara Jean moves into her dorm at NYU while Peter drives off to Stanford implying that they are both starting new chapters of their lives but will remain together despite the distance, with more love letter correspondences in between.
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This was honestly such a good trilogy and I will definitely miss the excitement and anticipation over waiting for another movie now that it's over. In an interview, Jenny Han said that while it may be over there is always more stories after one chapter ends. Although she has nothing planned she admitted to saying never say never. For now though, we can always revisit Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky through the books and the movies always and forever. (Sorry, if that was cheesy, but I had to 😉)
*This post is not sponsored. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Sources are credited to Google images and Netflix.
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