Ending a series, especially one that has a strong following and means so much to its fans, can be an herculean challenge. Add to that the choice to do so in a 2 hour movie instead of a final season, limiting the time available to wrap up story lines and develop characters. But perhaps the biggest challenge is how to end the story of the romance of a young queer (fictional) couple which has come to be an emotional support story for both young queers and older ones that didn't live in a time when this sort of relationship tended to happen. How do you wrap all of this up in a way that is honest both narratively and emotionally for those who have invested so much into this story and these characters?
Writing at a time when gay love stories just didn't exist, gay writer EM Forster talked about the importance of having a happy ending for his gay love story Maurice, how gay men like him deserved the happily ever after so much straight literature offers its audiences. Today is a very different time, but is the need for the promise of love enduring still as relevant for modern audiences, both the young and those who remember being young? Alternatively how you do realistically deal with the likelihood of teenage relationships lasting. Life after highschool pulls people in different directions and burgeoning adults grow into different people. Is it honest to have the multitude of couples who formed over the course of this story ride off happily into the sunset together?
Okay so I've asked a lot of this little movie... but I think it mostly found its way through this quagmire to deliver for both fans and those who may have come into this film fresh alike. It is about teens in love, and all the hyper drama that comes with that. It is about queer and trans kids not only existing but finding love and community, and all the drama that comes with that. It wrestles with some of these questions and delivers a fairly satisfying set of resolutions. Yes you can watch this as someone unfamiliar with the Heartstopper series and walk away with a positive movie experience. And for those fans who have followed these characters through all the seasons, Forever will offer you the closure that you need. And will likely illicit a few tears.
Heartstopper Forever finds a lovely way to being affirming for its audiences while also feeling honest and true. There is a scene in the middle with Derek Jacobi which is short and very quiet in what it is doing, but profound in so many ways. Time and again this film reinforces that love stories aren't rote, aren't about destiny or soul mates, but are about finding connection in whatever ways those come, healthy connections that make people happy.
Forever is easily the most secure chapter in the Heartstopper saga. It tackles the characters growing up. From their being more sex (although still fairly PG-13) to some drinking, it is more about how the film treats its subjects as coming of age finally. They get to start having the sort of agency that only adults get to start to have. Yes they are just starting out on this journey but they are finally taking it on.
Heartstopper Forever
Starring: Kit Connor, Joe Locke, Yasmin Finney, William Gao, Tobie Donovan, Corinna Brown, Kizzy Edgell, Rhea Norwood, Derek Jacobi
Director: Wash Westmoreland
Writer: Alice Oseman
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