REVIEW: ‘To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You’ gives us another predictable teenage love triangle
You know who she’s going to pick from the start, but you’re still disappointed
Photo Courtesy of Netflix. Jordan Fisher as John Ambrose McClaren and Lara Condor as Lara Jean Covey in Netflix’a “To All the Boys: PS I Still Love You.” This movie is a sequel to the widely popular movie, “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.”
February 17, 2020
Fans of “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” finally got their sequel on Feb. 12, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
“To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You” started off strong with an ode to the classic ‘80s rom-com and ended with Lara Jean getting another fairytale kiss, but I can’t tell you what happened in the middle because it felt like nothing.
The movie focuses on the love life of Lara Jean Covey, played by Lana Condor and her relationship with Peter Kavinsky, played by Noah Centineo. Things take a turn when one of Lara Jean’s five letters gets a response from her middle school crush, John Ambrose McClaren, played by Jordan Fisher.
Lara Jean finds herself volunteering at the same luxurious retirement home as John Ambrose, even though he now goes to school a town over. She ends up trapped between an old crush who has always liked her back and her new boyfriend.
Most of the movie revolves around Lara Jean feeling insecure in her new relationship and debating whether she loves Peter or wants to leave him for John. It’s your typical high school love triangle, but most of the scenes weren’t notable and it was easy to tell which boy she was going to pick.
There are a few scenes that I remember, and when I piece them together I realize that on paper Lara Jean chose the wrong guy and her choice made the rest of the plot points kind of pointless. Everything that made all the girls swoon over Peter in the first movie unraveled around him in this sequel, letting John shine as the “boy next door.”
Maybe the lack of memorable scenes is due to the change in directors, from Susan Johnson to Michael Fimognari, because I can recite almost the entire first movie from memory. The third movie in the series, “To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean,” also directed by Fimognari, has already been filmed and is rumored to come out summer of 2021.
As much as I want to see the third movie of the trilogy I probably won’t because “To All the Boys: PS I Still Love You” was already a disappointment and didn’t leave anything to be desired.
“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” and “To All the Boys: PS I Still Love You” are currently streaming on Netflix.