Review by Brianna Reed

It is a new year and Lara Jean Covey, portrayed by Lana Condor, and Peter Kavinsky, portrayed by Noah Centineo, are no longer pretending to be a couple – they are a couple. As Lara Jean navigates a trove of official firsts with Peter, she finds herself leaning more on Chris, portrayed by Madeleine Arthur, and an unexpected new confidant, Stormy, portrayed by Holland Taylor, to help her manage the complex emotions that come with this new chapter of balancing a relationship and figuring out her authentic self. When John Ambrose McClaren, portrayed by Jordan Fisher, another recipient of one of Lara Jean’s old love letters, enters her life again, she must rely on herself more than ever as she is confronted with her first real dilemma: Can she love two boys at the same time?

By design, the sequel tackles the prospect of what might have been and the strain of resolving who they are as a couple as opposed to who they are as individuals, particularly at a time when the character’s sense of self is subject to so much scrutiny, all fertile ground for storytelling, to be sure. Most troubling, two of the original film’s animating principals, heroine Lara Jean’s personal growth and her relationships with her sisters, got lost in the fray. The filmmakers made a very good choice in bringing in Jordan Fisher as the third member of a romantic triangle since the character and the actor are solid matches for the two leads. The one character that does get the proper film treatment is Gen. Her forgiveness for Lara Jean is no doubt a surprise considering their relationship in the source material. This adaptation of their friendship might be drastically different, but it does feel organic for the story the film is telling. The plot does not force these two girls into professing their forgiveness to each other by the end of the movie and that is okay.

This film is different, for sure. It is less giddy and more grounded, a little more suffused with at least the high school version of how hard it is to make relationships work. It also feels less comedic, in part because the Lara Jean-Peter scenes have more tension than flirtation. There is part of me that longed for more of a traditional romantic comedy, but I think that is the point of the film. A romantic comedy is the first chapter; something else is next. A story about falling in love cannot be followed by a second narrative about the same people falling in love again. A story about falling in love is followed by a tale about trying to stay in love, and that is the story this is, and in its own way, it is very romantic.