With the pressure of the success of the original movie To All the Boys I Loved Before based on the book written by Jenny Han, the sequel All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You had high expectations from viewers.
All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You starts off with the main character Lara Jean Song Covey (Lana Candor) thinking about her handsome jock boyfriend Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) that she got together with at the end of the first movie. Lara Jean’s sister sent him a secret letter she had written to him that he was never supposed to receive and this brought the two together in the first film.
Now living in a fairy tale, she has to deal with the anxieties that come with dating the most popular boy in school and her ex-bestfriend’s ex-boyfriend. Problems occur when she receives a letter from another boy she had written a letter to and childhood crush named John Ambrose McClaren (Jordan Fisher). There is also a subplot involving Lara Jean’s widowed father (John Corbett) falling for their neighbour and dealing with the grief of moving on past his relationship with Lara Jean’s mother who passed away.
Lara Jean is reunited with John Ambrose after they both start volunteering at the Belleview retirement home. John Ambrose is everything Peter isn’t, he is smart, bookish and more of the type of person Lara Jean would be paired with. Lara Jean finds herself struggling with deciding between her jock and popular boyfriend and her studious old crush causing herself a lot of heartache.
(Photo: Bettina Strauss/Netflix)
Throughout the film the insecurities and doubts within a new relationship are reflected perfectly. A lot of issues that are in the life of a normal teenager such as losing friends, relationship problems, parents separating and loss are all present in the film making it more relatable for a teen and young adult audience.
Although the plot and subplots are not as engaging as the first film, All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love you is just as entertaining and relatable for young people. Overall the film is an excellent reminder that love is not easy and often takes a lot of effort and compromising to make it work.
