To All The Boys: Always and Forever
Director: Michael Fimognari
Writer: Katie Lovejoy and Jenny Han (original author)
Starring: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish, Anna Cathcart, Madeleine Arthur, Sarayu Blue, John Corbett
Reason for watching: Netflix original content that isn’t actually bad
Number of times I’ve watched it: first time viewing
***
Man, this is why people still pay money for Netflix. Their prices may keep going up, but in a pandemic, they are still cranking out quality content. And if one thing is certain, they know how to make watchable content for kids. Heck in 2020, they had an earlier entry in the To All the Boys franchise, the final season of 13 Reasons Why (as crappy as it was), Outer Banks, and I Am Not Okay With This. And at the start of this new year, Netflix has given us yet another well made teen movie.
At the start of To All The Boys: Always and Forever Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and Peter (Noah Centineo) are preparing for their senior year of high school and getting into Stanford together. Peter is already on the lacrosse team, but trouble is a-brewing when Lara doesn’t get in. But during the senior trip to NYC she falls in love with the Big Apple and decides to attend NYU. This jeopardizes their relationship, and we have our tension for the movie.
Does this plot sound like something new? No? Doesn’t to me either. The drama between our two characters is not something new to teenage rom-com movies. But what does work is the realism and the way the drama is handled. Knowing that their strong relationship could end, you see the slow dissolve of their connection. Plus the comedy and likability of the stars makes it easy to enjoy their dynamic and care about them. The tone and music of the movie really create an atmosphere that you can immerse yourself in and enjoy.
Lana Condor is an emerging star. Her performance through these movies perfectly toe the line of pixie dream girl and cool kid that you want to be here best friend. I know Noah Centineo is the one who got his own Netflix movie already, but she needs to get her own space to iso ball sooner or later. She’s an excellent leading performer.
All in all, this is a stellar ending to the trilogy. I haven’t seen all of the High School Musical movies. They certainly don’t seem as big, but the energy and enjoyment one can have while watching both is comparable between the two.
7/10
Until I see another one.