Rating: 3.5/5

With the Valentine season upon us, it is only fitting that the much-anticipated sequel to the 2018 teen-romance movie To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before has been released. The sequel, To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You, has some stiff competition to compare to considering the original movie was a smash hit  — raking in a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. The Netflix exclusive premiered on Febuary12th and starts right where the preceding movie stopped. Lara Jean Covey (Lana Condor) is living out her relationship with her new boyfriend Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) when her heart pulls her in another direction when she becomes reacquainted with her childhood crush John Ambrose (Jordan Fisher). Laura Jean then becomes paranoid about Peter and his ex-girlfriend to the point where it eats her up and the two split. During this split, she goes all-in with John at the climax of the movie. The watcher sees Laura conflicted as she kisses John only to find out that the one she loves is Peter. This is followed by the resolution of the movie where Peter and Laura Jean kiss and make up, for lack of better terms. 

As an avid romance movie watcher, who has seen almost every romance movie under the sun, I was excited to see the second installment of the story I fell in love with two years ago. But, I fell like the movie fell short. I think that the acting was a little dry as well as the storyline. Nothing really happens in the movie for the first 45 minutes and after that point, the story seems rushed and lacks as much substance as the plot of the original. Although the movie presents the plot of Laura Jean and her letters, the storyline seems scattered and loose. It feels as if this could have been a 30 minute TV special rather than an hour and 45-minute long movie.

I will say that the directing was beautiful in this movie. Director Michael Fimognari’s color choices for some of the scenes, paired with the music brought the story to life. Another thing that I loved about this movie, possibly what hit me the hardest was the part where Laura Jean and her ex-friend/Peter’s ex-girlfriend makeup and come to an understanding. This scene puts an end to the hatred and tension between them throughout the trilogy and showed that one has to let the other talk to hear what they are saying.

Overall this movie gets a 3.5/5 for me. The ending was satisfying and the movie was a nice conclusion to the cliffhanger that left me on my feet at the end of the original.