To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You - Great for Valentine’s Day!

In To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You, teen Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and Peter (Noah Centineo) are a real couple. Lara isn’t used to being a girlfriend and has to make it through first real kisses, her first real date, first argument and her first Valentine's Day.

Lara Jean is ready for Valentine's Day funCourtesy of Netflix

Lara Jean relies on sis Kitty (Anna Cathcart), friends Chris (Madeleine Arthur) and Lucas (Trezzo Maharo) and elderly but romance savvy Stormy (Holland Taylor) to help her. When Middle School buddy John Ambrose (Jordan Fisher), who got one of her five love letters, comes back to town, Lara Jean is an emotional mess. Is it possible to love two guys at once?

To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You Trailer

New Relationship

Lara Jean is in love and happy to be a girlfriend for the first time. She and Peter go on a first official date to a nice restaurant, release a lovely Chinese lantern into the sky with their initials on it and vow never to break each other’s hearts. After dressing up in an official Korean dress for the Korean New Year celebration, Lara gets a letter. It’s from her old “friend” John Ambrose.

Lara Jean and Kitty dressed for Korean New Year

John got her letter from the past and admits he liked her when they were in Middle School! It isn’t mushy but should she answer? She tells Peter about it. He’s not upset. At a volunteer event at school, she and Peter sign up for different things.

The new couple releases a lanternCourtesy of Netflix

Volunteering

After having fun at a carnival and learning that Dad (John Corbett) has a crush on the divorced lady across the street, Lara Jean goes to volunteer at a retirement home where feisty retiree Stormy shows her around. Who is her co-volunteer? John Ambrose! He flirts but she says she is embarrassed about her old letter and wants it back. Later she wonders who she liked best when she wrote the letters. Was it John? She crafts a cool card for Peter for Valentine’s Day and Kitty makes one from her “dad” to his crush. Peter takes Lara to where she “jumped him” (in the last movie) and gives her a poem and a gorgeous necklace.

At the carnivalCourtesy of Netflix

Who Do I Love?

After working with John Ambrose, Lara remembers why she loved him way back when (5 years ago). Stormy informs her that the poem Peter “wrote” was really by Edgar Allen Poe! After a party, she asks him about the poem. He says he never actually told her he wrote it. In his car they talk about sex. He doesn’t want to rush her. She wonders if, after “doing it” with ex Gennifer (Emilija Baranac), she won’t be enough for him. He is nice about it. It’s up to her. They wait.

Going out to a partyCourtesy of Netflix

Time Capsule

At the retirement home, John admits he was always upset about coming in second to Peter when they were kids. He doesn’t know she is with Peter now. She is interrupted when trying to tell him. They remember a treehouse where they read books and became close friends. They buried a time capsule there and now new owners will take the treehouse down. Peter, John, Lara, Chris, Trevor (Ross Butler) and Gennifer put things in it. Let’s have a party, dig it up and open it! Of course not invite Gen. Lara Jean invites Peter.

Being boyfriend and girlfriend is newCourtesy of Netflix

Whoops!

Peter mentions the event to Gen who comes. The gang opens the capsule. Gen pretends she never put anything inside it. Peter and John butt heads and it comes out that Peter and Lara Jean are a couple. John is shocked. Afterwards Peter and Lara argue.. Why did he invite Gen?  Why did she not tell John that she was with Peter? It is their first real fight but they make up. Later Lara finds John at the retirement home and she takes the blame. He guesses he was just reading her wrong. They seem okay.

Chris gives Lara Jean adviceCourtesy of Netflix

Dinner and the Breakup

Later, in March, Lara Jean, Peter, Kitty, dad and his neighbor girlfriend eat a very early Thanksgiving dinner. Dad explains that such a fake Thanksgiving is how he met Lara Jean’s mom. Lara tries to support Peter at a pep rally as the team leaves for an out of town game but Chris shows her a very recent photo of him and Gen seeming very close. He tells Lara that her parents are breaking up and she was confiding in him. Is he still seeing Gen?  Peter and Lara seem to break up and she gives his necklace back during a field trip to an aquarium.

Can the couple really break up? Courtesy of Netflix

Who Will It Be?

Post break-up, Lara is sad at home. She realizes that she might not have been honest with herself about her feelings. She goes to the treehouse. Suddenly Gen comes in and tells her that Peter is crazy about her and that she actually was asking his advice about parental break-ups since he had been through it. John Ambrose texts her. They had planned a dance for the old folks and they both attend and dance. Will Lara Jean and John Ambrose be a new couple or will Lara realize she still loves Peter?

Lara Jean dances with John AmbroseCourtesy of Netflix

Wrapping Up

To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You is very true to high school relationship trauma. Dialogue is “real” and you can relate. This is the first time most of us learn that hey, relationships are super hard and feelings might not be all that clear cut.

At the premiereCourtesy of Netflix

Lana Condor and Noah Centineo are great and believable as new couple Lara Jean and Peter. Jordan Fisher is convincing and lovable as John Ambrose.

The Love Triangle at an interviewCourtesy of Netflix

This sequel film might not be quite as exciting as the first but it is a very worthy successor and a wonderful date film for Valentine’s Day or for a sleepover with besties who will totally “get” it.  There are a few scenes that don’t really go anywhere and don’t seem necessary but we can award four stars.

P.S. I Still Love You Movie Rating: 

Courtesy of Netflix

See To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You on Netflix streaming now!

Are You a Fan?

Are you into the Lara Jean novels or these movies? Do you feel you can relate to any of the characters? Do you feel that nobody “gets” how you feel about middle or high school relationships? Share some feelings by leaving a comment!!

By: Lynn Barker