Netflix has a way of creating shows and films that instantly go viral. ‘To All The Boys I Loved Before’ is no different. The Netflix film had created major buzz when the trailer came out, but when the movie finally did release, the internet sort of lost its mind.
The film is a high school romantic comedy, and it’s honestly such an adorable film to watch
The protagonist, Lara Jean Covey, is an awkward half Asian girl who is literally ALL of us. The story revolves around her school-time crushes and loves and how she’s never actually gone up to them and expressed her feelings. Lara Jean’s way out of this situation is to write love letters to the boys she loves but she never sends them out. She stores them in a beautiful blue box that once belongs to her late mother.
Before I forget, one of the boys she ‘writes to’ is her sister, Margot’s, boyfriend, Josh Sanderson.
To be fair to Lara Jean, they were the best of friends before Margot came into the picture.
As Margot leaves for university, Lara Jean’s younger sister, Kitty, notices how lonely Lara really is, so to help her out, she mails the letters out, and of course, all hell breaks loose.
This begins this strange ‘fake’ relationship with one of her ‘loves’, Peter Kavinsky. It’s a mutually beneficial agreement, Peter can get back at his ex, and Lara’s nemesis, Jen. Lara can hide behind Peter and not confront Josh over her letter to him. Lara Jean actually turns out to be a lot like most of us. First off, she informs her idea of romance and love from all the romantic novels she’s always reading.
Also, the poor thing isn’t able to pick up on any hints and signals that Peter sends her.
Even when she’s starting her ‘fake’ relationship with Peter, she wants to make everything official and ‘legal’.
Lara Jean is also afraid of her feelings and how they might play out in real life.
Lastly, her family; her dad and sisters, mean EVERYTHING to her.
The movie, of course, had its fair share of flaws.
For example, the dynamic between Lara Jean and Josh and his hatred for Peter is not as fleshed out as it should have been. As the audience, we’re told that there’s a rift between Josh and Peter but we aren’t given any context or any insight into why that’s the case.
Also, personally, I found myself being constantly angry at Lara Jean. The whole ‘fake’ relationship was Peter’s idea, as was the note writing and the ski trip, how did she not read it as him having an interest in her, like AT ALL. It takes her friend, Lucas to point out the obvious. Chalo, initially it can be hard to digest that such a good looking fella can like you, but dimaagh use karlo Lara! Till Lucas finally tells her, the movie is just constantly screaming at Lara through your screen. Honestly, because of this, the movie begins to drag a bit in the middle.
All that being said, the movie is just so cute! It’s hard to hate it, like at all! If you’re looking for a cute movie that will make you laugh, this is for you.