If you’re like us at all, you spent the ENTIRE weekend watching and re-watching, then slow-mo watching, then scene-by-scene breakdown watching the instant classic YA rom-com To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before movie. It dropped on Netflix first thing Friday and like a Peter Kavinsky smile, it immediately shook the world and we urgently needed YA rom-com expertise to help us dissect all the magical moments.
So we immediately called Always Never Yours power couple and author duo Austin Siegemund-Broka and Emily Wibberley to give us the low-down on just how brilliant Lara Jean’s movie is.
Okay, if it’s not obvious from our tweets, or the fact we wrote a YA romance about a girl who never imagines she’ll be the center of a love story, or just the general wonderfulness of Jenny Han’s iconic books, we’re HUGE To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before fans.
Like everyone in the universe with WiFi and their parents’ borrowed Netflix password, we tuned in this weekend to Netflix’s To All The Boys film adaptation. Like everyone, WE HAVE THOUGHTS.
SPOILERS we guess, but really you should have already watched this movie at least twice.
Takeaway 1: Okay, Lara Jean nearly running Peter Kavinsky over was absolutely all the proof we needed to confirm that Lana Condor and Noah Centineo were going to crush these performances. The sass, the smirks, the sarcasm—can these two star in a hundred more movies tomorrow please?
Takeaway 2: Kitty hitting Peter with “You can call me Katherine” and then immediately relenting is Biggest Mood. Low-key, Kitty might be our favorite character. We don’t fault Lara Jean AT ALL for wanting to spend her Saturday night watching Golden Girls with her younger sister.
Takeaway 3: Did you catch Jenny Han’s cameo? Was she the coolest middle-school-dance-chaperone ever? Yes and yes.
Takeaway 4: We imagine Lara Jean and Always Never Yours’ Megan would probably be friends. Megan’s not a Lara Jean—but she is a Chris. She’d proudly support her friend’s relationships (real and fake) and wouldn’t stand for Genevieve’s hijinks…and she would definitely interrogate Dr. Covey on his chosen profession in reproductive health.
Takeaway 5: Were we the only quasi-film nerds who loved Susan Johnson’s directing? The refined Wes-Anderson touches (those Rushmore-esque title cards!), the vivid color scheme. Johnson’s previous film was the YA-novel adaptation Carrie Pilby, and it just jumped to the top of our TBW (to-be-watched).
Takeaway 6: I (Emily) would like to have Lara Jean’s wardrobe and bedroom. The To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before Cover is iconic (and one of our favorites—can you tell it was one of the titles we suggested when coming up with the Always Never Yours cover?) and the bedroom on the TATBILB cover was perfectly paired with the film’s bedroom. It may be time to redecorate our own room…
Takeaway 7: There’s a spin-off in here centered on the new guy Margot meets in Scotland while wrestling with her complicated feelings for Josh back home. Wait, maybe she travels through some stones, and the guy she meets is a Highlander warrior, and it’s 1745, and…oh, never mind.
Takeaway 8: HOT TUB SCENE. That is all.
Takeaway 9: We can never resist a Shakespeare reference. Here goes: In Othello, Iago cleverly misplaces Othello’s wife’s strawberry-embroidered handkerchief to convince Othello his wife’s been unfaithful. It’s practically the exact trick Gen pulls on Lara Jean, using the internet-infamous scrunchie to insinuate things went on between her and Peter. Say what you will about Shakespeare—some of his plot work holds up.
Takeaway 10: Sequel please? P.S. I Still Love You needs to happen. We want John Ambrose McClaren. We want Ms. Rothschild (GET IN HERE MARISA TOMEI). We want Kitty in a tux. We want more Lara Jean and Peter!