Months ago, I stood in teacher Alex Polk’s room with my friend as we watched the “To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You” trailer excitedly. I couldn’t wait to watch the film and see how Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and Peter (Noah Centineo) handle their new relationship, and after watching it I was not disappointed. 

The new movie starts almost directly after the first movie ended, with Peter and Lara Jean going on their first real date. I enjoyed Condor’s performance as Lara Jean in this scene. She was able to portray both the excitement and anxiousness of a girl going on her first date in a way that felt real.

In the first movie, Lara Jean’s sister Kitty (Anna Cathcart), sends out Lara Jean’s secret love letters, which sets off the chain of events that occur. In the second movie, Lara Jean receives a response from John Ambrose McClaren (Jordan Fisher), one of the five people who received a letter of hers. Although at first she does not think this will be a problem, hoping she can ignore it, that wish is crushed when she discovers she will be volunteering with John. Although some may say the relationship between Lara Jean and Josh is over-dramatized, I believe it is relatable. Fisher and Condor do an excellent job portraying the emotions of teenagers confused about their relationships.  

As Lara Jean navigates her feelings for both John and Peter, the music in the background of the movie not only helps the movie flow from scene to scene, but also lends itself as a way to understand the emotions of the characters. I appreciated  how the movie utilized both current music like “Ocean E

yes” by Billie Eilish and “Kill This Love” by Black Pink, as well as old but still well known songs like “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper in order to capture the spirit of the different scenes. 

As someone on team Peter, the conflict that Lara Jean has between picking Peter and John left me feeling constantly anxious and on the edge of my seat. My favorite part of the movie, however, was the subplot with Lara Jean’s dad (John Corbett) and the next door neighbor Trisha (Sarayu Blue). The love story between the two was not only a nice break from the anxiety of Lara Jean’s love life, but also was very cute and felt much more innocent than the drama of Lara Jean’s love triangle. 

Going into the movie, I was concerned for how Lara Jean’s character might have changed now that she had a boyfriend who liked to do different things than her, such as going to parties, but I was happy to see her character stay true to herself. I think the movie sends a very important message of not changing who you are for anyone.  

After months of waiting for this movie, I was not disappointed in its ability to stay true to the characters and create a new story line, and it left me with the ending I hoped for.

“To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You”: ★★★★★