Welcome to Fix It, our weekly series examining projects we love — save for one tiny change we wish we could make.
I was really excited for the first To All the Boys movie to come out. I had read Jenny Han’s three-book YA series from which it is adapted, loved it, and was eager to see Lara Jean’s story play out on screen. Thankfully, I was not disappointed.
In Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018), Lara Jean’s (Lana Condor) top-secret love letters to her past crushes get mysteriously sent out. So she enters a fake relationship with popular boy Peter (Noah Centineo) to throw off one of the other letter recipients, her sister’s ex-boyfriend.
With a charismatic cast, sugary visuals, and a sweet story, this teen rom-com was extremely likable — so it deservingly scored a sequel, P.S. I Still Love You, which premiered on Netflix around last Valentine’s Day. But because everyone fell hard for charming newcomer John Ambrose (Jordan Fisher), the colorful visuals, and the dreamy pop soundtrack, they were quick to overlook how rushed the resolution actually was.
Because the final movie in the series, To All the Boys: Always and Forever, is making its debut on Netflix Feb. 12, it’s time to look back at how the film that came before it disguised an uneven ending with a pretty persona and why borrowing from the book would have helped.
So where did things go wrong?
Image: Netflix
Lara Jean is excited to be Peter’s actual girlfriend in To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You. But after she gets a letter from a former crush, John Ambrose, she starts to question what could have been. Her curiosity only intensifies after she coincidently starts volunteering at the same retirement home as John Ambrose, and tension brews between her and Peter because he’s still spending time with his ex-girlfriend, Gen.
The second movie’s script could have used some sprucing throughout.
The second movie’s script could have used some sprucing throughout. Lara Jean got frustratingly indecisive at times, much of her character development from the first movie was glossed over to create new conflict, and a few unnecessary scenes made the movie occasionally lag. But the plot was still redeemable — up to a point.
At the climax of the film, Lara Jean and Peter break up after she discovers that Peter was really waiting for Gen to meet him — not her — on the night they admitted their feelings to each other in the hot tub during the school ski trip. This makes Lara Jean wonder if their whole relationship was a big mistake because it wasn’t even supposed to happen in the first place. Peter takes back the locket he gave to Lara Jean, and she is understandably sad for a long time. But how the film ties things up after the breakup makes less sense.
Let’s talk about Lara Jean’s and Gen’s unusual apologies
Lara Jean does a lot of thinking, and unprompted, she tells her mortal enemy, Gen, that it wasn’t Peter that couldn’t get over her but she that couldn’t get over her. Gen openly explains that Peter is crazy about Lara Jean, and the reason she and Peter still hang out is because her parents are splitting up, and Peter gets what that’s like. While the moment is sweet, I couldn’t help but be struck by how out-of-character it was for both of the girls.
First off, Lara Jean was fully convinced that Peter was in the wrong when she broke things off. She was hurt by him. But somehow, out of nowhere, she has a change of heart. What caused it? What event happened off-screen that made Lara Jean invite an ex-friend who had been historically mean to her to have a heart-to-heart?
What event happened off-screen that made Lara Jean invite an ex-friend who had been historically mean to her to have a heart-to-heart?
Then, after Lara Jean admits to Gen that she was jealous of what she and Peter had, why does Gen so freely offer up personal details about her family struggles to make Lara Jean feel better? Though Lara Jean, via voice-over, tries to explain that this happens because there’s an unbreakable bond between the two that still lives on although their friendship does not, this seems like a copout answer. After all, Gen had actively shown disdain toward Lara Jean up until this point. The last time they saw each other, Gen, in front of Lara Jean, flirtatiously reminded Peter of the time they made out after a baseball game while they were still together. The last time Lara Jean saw Peter, she learned that Gen was the one who spread a steamy makeout video of them on the internet in an attempt to tear down her reputation. Gen wants to keep up an image of superiority.
In the book, Lara Jean does not come to the random realization that Gen is not her enemy. She actually spies Gen’s dad with a much younger woman, who is not Gen’s mom, and feels bad for what she must be going through. Gen feels embarrassed when Lara Jean finds out about her difficult family life, and though Lara Jean wants to make up, Gen doesn’t — and it works.
In addition to being more authentic to real life, this book scenario makes more narrative sense. It doesn’t just dawn on Lara Jean one day that maybe she was too possessive of Peter. Instead, a crucial event causes her to understand why Peter spent time with his ex. If the movie had reordered things (Lara Jean first discovers that Gen is having trouble at home and then understands that she might have overacted about them spending time together as opposed to Lara Jean first admits she overreacted and then discovers Gen has trouble at home), any resolution between the pair would have been more believable.
I’m sorry you got no closure, John Ambrose
Image: Netflix
In both the movie and the book, Lara Jean says that all the girls were either Team Peter or Team John Ambrose, and to be honest, I’ve always been Team Peter. However, I still hate how John Ambrose is done absolutely dirty at the end of P.S. I Still Love You.
Right after Lara Jean makes up with Gen, she goes to Belleview Retirement Home for the Star Ball that she and John Ambrose have been planning. They get all dressed up, share a cute dance with each other, and kiss in the snow. But then she pulls back and realizes he isn’t Peter, walks away, and leaves him in the dust to never be heard from again. While John Ambrose doesn’t even show up in the novel until over halfway through, he’s made a major love interest right from the start of the movie. So why does he still get such a terrible ending?
While John Ambrose doesn’t even show up in the novel until over halfway through, he’s made a major love interest right from the start of the movie. So why does he still get such a terrible ending?
In the book, Lara Jean hangs out with John Ambrose for a while after her breakup with Peter. They even get this great scene where Gen and Peter unexpectedly show up at the Star Ball, and Lara Jean runs away from them by jumping into a red convertible with John Ambrose and speeding off into the distance. It’s so fun. These two do eventually break things off, but it happens on Lara Jean’s birthday, not at the dance.
To celebrate Lara Jean’s big day, John Ambrose gifts her a snowglobe that reminds her of their magical night together. But Peter also shows up and returns the locket he had taken from her. He says he wants her back. Lara Jean ends up choosing Peter because she has a real connection and history with him, whereas with John Ambrose, she was more connected to her childhood fantasy of being with him— not who he was in the present day. This idea seems to be lost in the film.
In it, the kiss with John Ambrose is what prompts Lara Jean to realize she doesn’t want to be with him. Why she all of the sudden feels this way is completely unexplained. And while more context would have been helpful, it also would have worked for the John Ambrose kiss scene to be slightly revised and moved before the Gen-and-Lara-Jean scene. Really, why would she kiss John Ambrose in the first place if she already had Peter on her mind, thanks to her convo with Gen?
If this scene were earlier, Lara Jean and John Ambrose could have had a truly magical moment without anything to taint it, and then later, she could have made her decision to stay with Peter. Instead, she literally runs straight from John Ambrose’s arms back into those of her ex, who is conveniently waiting outside the retirement home for her.
Well, Peter, you lucked out
Image: netflix
Okay, so technically Lara Jean gets some boy advice from her favorite retirement home resident first. But then she burst through the doors of the place and steps outside to see Peter waiting for her. He tells Lara Jean that he wants her to break his heart, she tells him she loves him, and they kiss. Then this scene fades into a final one where Lara Jean reflects on her love story.
While Lara Jean and Peter’s reunion moment is cute, oh boy, does it happen fast.
While Lara Jean and Peter’s reunion moment is cute, oh boy, does it happen fast. One moment Lara Jean is entranced by John Ambrose, and the next she’s telling Peter that he’s the one she wants. But as if this transition wasn’t rushed enough, it’s also weird that this moment occurs considering the pair’s last interactions.
Peter and Lara Jean had broken up. Then, Peter took back the locket he gave Lara Jean during a field trip to the aquarium. They don’t see each other again until this very moment at the retirement home ball. But something must have happened in the time in between, right? Sure, maybe we don’t need to know what led Peter to realize he wanted to be with Lara Jean. But why would he show up at the dance and assume she’d be ready to make up, especially because at the moment, she was out on a date with another boy? Can you imagine how badly that would have gone if he surprised her and she didn’t want to get back together with him? The timing is convenient. And yes, I know, P.S. I Still Love You is a rom-com. Sometimes cheesy and improbable things are going to happen, but because the first movie had gained a reputation for being relatable, this head-first dive into everything-is-glittery-and-perfect land feels forced in the second movie.
Thankfully, the last To All the Boys movie is finally here, and it’s really cute. (Plus, for the most part, the ups and downs of Peter and Lara Jean’s relationship make more sense!) So while I’ll forever be bugged by the fact that the ending of film two could have been better, I’ll accept it knowing that there’s more to the story.
To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You is available to stream on Netflix.