Heartstopper Forever Review – Sterile Sex Scenes Won’t Allow Netflix’s Lovebirds to Grow | film

IIf it had been up to Kate Connor, Heartstopper would have ended very differently. “If I had it my way, I would have Nick and Charlie cheat on each other and do all those stupid things,” he recently told The Guardian. “Because young people do it and they don’t necessarily need to be evil because of it.”

Midway through Heartstopper Forever, the final film of the Netflix series, I began to understand his point. The central star-crossed lovebirds of Alice Oceman’s megahit are now 18 and 17, and like most teenagers they are having sex, getting drunk and fighting with their annoying siblings. Unlike most people their age, they don’t vape, don’t use sex apps, and certainly don’t cheat.

If you know anything about Heartstopper, the YA sensation based on Alice Oseman’s popular graphic novels, this won’t come as a surprise. Criticizing Heartstopper for being too healthy is like complaining that hot chocolate is too rich—comforting enjoyment is exactly the point of this heartwarming offering. And while there are some bumps in the road for its characters in Heartstopper Forever, the film is careful to reassure us that it gets better, even as its version of gay teen life begins to feel more and more surreal.

It’s their final year together at the fictional Trowham Grammar School, and Nick (Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke), a powerhouse duo, are stamped as couple goals. While previous seasons of Heartstopper have loosely revolved around the milestones of adolescence — whether a couple would get together, say “I love you” or have sex — Heartstopper Forever’s premise is more ambiguous, questioning whether relationships between teens can truly last into adulthood.

No spoilers here – but if you know anything about the series, you’ll probably be able to predict whether or not Nick and Charlie will make it in the end. But Heartstopper Forever doesn’t quite know how to get there. The film covers a year in the couple’s life over two hours and four parts (fall, winter, spring and summer plus an epilogue). With a little tying the sections together, it often feels like a quick game of Issues Bingo. Nick is an alcoholic who is paralyzed by anxiety at the beginning of the film, but is somehow able to overcome his demons by working in animal rescue. Charlie’s eating disorder from season three rears its head again but appears to have been cured by the sight of Derek Jacobi, who appears as one half of a sweet elderly gay couple. The relationship between Friends Tao and Elle is on the rocks, but the film barely bothers to explain why, an odd misstep for characters who were previously given nearly as much screen time as the show’s protagonists.

The film often feels more concerned with creating a love letter to the series itself rather than taking the characters anywhere new. The scene of Nick and Charlie strolling around on a winter’s day is a recreation of an earlier moment as the pair make snow angels, while the magic of revisiting the place where they had their first kiss is diminished by one of many obvious flashbacks. It’s as if the filmmakers were worried that viewers would be rewatching it a second time all along, demonstrating a strange lack of trust in the series’ popular fan base.

Heartstopper Forever also doesn’t seem to trust its viewers to stay up to date on current affairs, with earnest PSAs about the state of LGBTQ+ rights. “The government is depriving me of my rights and everything we fought for,” says Elle, the couple’s trans friend. “If I had been a few years younger, I wouldn’t even have been able to legally take hormone blockers.” There’s a grim truth to her message, but it’s strange that she hasn’t mentioned this aspect of her gender-affirming journey before — as if the writers were more interested in making sure they were on the right side of current political conversations than giving new depth to their characters’ story.

The broader Heartstopper gang became increasingly important to the show as its seasons progressed, to the point where the entire season finale was devoted to Darcey’s non-binary classmate’s issues with her family. (Darcy’s most notable development in Heartstopper Forever is a new haircut.) Thank goodness for the well-timed one-liners of the delightfully narcissistic Rhea (Imogen Heaney), who announces that she’s gay as if she’s just won the Olympics, as well as Charlie’s sister, Tori, whose talk about her asexual relationship is one of the film’s most poignant scenes. “Maybe our relationship together isn’t the same as yours, or the normal kind of living together,” she says. “But it’s ours, and we’re happy with it.”

It’s one of the rare moments in Heartstopper Forever that doesn’t feel over-the-top. While it’s fun to discover that both Nick and Charlie are royalty, the sex scenes are strangely coy (an especially odd choice given that both actors are 22 years old). There’s a flash of buttocks, no nasty gunk to clean up afterward — and certainly none of the awkward awkwardness that viewers might remember from their teenage sexual experiences. In one evening scene, they impulsively stop the car for a bit of outdoor fun—Charlie sticks his hands down Nick’s jeans before an aerial shot reveals that there’s not a soul 500 feet away, as if the filmmakers were unfurling a big sign that read: No late-night dog walkers have been shocked by that tongue.

Heartstopper’s charm lies in its pink color, but part of Nick and Charlie’s glow comes from the expansive cast that Heartstopper Forever essentially ignores. The film isn’t without its highly inspired moments, but the awkward pacing, Easter eggs, and relentless editing often make it feel like an edit from its own fan cam while trying to put the best possible bow on the couple’s puppy love. Nick and Charlie are supposed to be all grown up, but Heartstopper Forever treats them with kid gloves.