The return of Heartstopper is equal parts cause for celebration and heartbreak. Because as a fan of this series, I’m so glad to be saying hello to Charlie and Nick again in Heartstopper Forever. But I’m also irreparably devastated that this is the end for such a positively beautiful story about being queer and young.
So when I say that I love Heartstopper Forever, I want you to understand that it comes from a place of joy but also loss. Because once Heartstopper is done as a series, what other big queer show do we have that highlights our joys, sorrows, and future? Recommendations are welcome.
But if I were to shake off the heartbreak of Heartstopper ending, I would say that this movie is the realest exploration that I’ve ever seen of what it is to be a teenager on the cusp of entering not just adulthood, but the mistakes we make along the way. And that’s what we see with Charlie, Nick, and the rest of the gang. Fear of a loss of love that leads to mistakes, with love being the thing that connects us and will never break.
MORE: Need a reminder of where Heartstopper last left off? Read our review of Season 3 Episode 8!
“With or without Charlie, you’ll be ok.”
One of the things that Heartstopper Forever did well was emphasizing how a relationship ending doesn’t mean you won’t survive. You saw this happening in various ways. Of course, you saw it with Charlie and Nick contemplating how they were going to survive Nick going to university. You also saw it with Elle and Tao when she wanted to go to Berlin. And you also saw it with the group as a whole, them all going in different directions in their lives.
A lot of times shows/movies don’t show the after.
They make it seem like this moment right now is all that you have. And that’s especially true if it’s a show/movie centered on young people. So I love that Heartstopper Forever took the time to have Nick’s “new mom” tell her son that with or without Charlie he was going to be okay. Even Charlie himself, after the breakup you saw that he still had a network around him that kept him grounded and going. And for a young person that might be going through these exact problems right now, it sets a good example that just because something ends, doesn’t mean it’s the end.
This also goes back to what Tao said towards the end about how the love that connects us will never break. Because change is scary, whether you’re a teenager or adult. But none of us are doing this alone.
Nick, Charlie, and the rest of the gang, they were all there for each other in Heartstopper Forever. During the ups, the downs, and the moments when they needed a bit of extra support. And life might change after they go to university. But that love remains. Those memories remain and that might seem like a cheesy message to some watching but maybe we need a little hope that everything is going to be ok. I know I do. And I know I’m not alone in that feeling.
MORE: Leviticus Review: The Best LGBTQ+ Horror Movie in Years
Sexy Times in Heartstopper Forever
For seasons, one of Heartstopper’s biggest complaints was how the show was a little bit too fluffy and didn’t have sex. A lot of people felt like it was unrealistic during a time when your hormones are going crazy and all you want to do is explore. But I always disagreed. Not every teenager has a life that looks like something straight out of Euphoria or Pretty Little Liars. Sometimes you take your time, fumble, and try again when you find someone you trust.
Nevertheless, there was a notable change in Heartstopper Forever when it came to sex.
We saw Nick and Charlie share intimate moments on a dockway, in their beds, or even a little makeshift tent. And it wasn’t Heartstopper going from 0 to 100 when it comes to sex. It was just showing the reality of what it is to be a teenager experiencing a multitude of firsts. I especially liked that Heartstopper Forever showed that these moments can also be grounded in desire that doesn’t feel gratuitous. Basically it doesn’t have to be something erotic like Euphoria. Sometimes that desire is grounded in joy and laughter between two people who care for each other and are just figuring it out together.
At the same time, Heartstopper Forever wasn’t shy in showing how sometimes people use sex as a form of distraction to avoid the real problem at hand. That’s something I didn’t expect from this series. But I’m glad that we saw it because avoidance isn’t something that is exclusive to adults. Everyone avoids. And while we’re avoiding, we end up hurting others and ourselves because we want to numb the pain of what we’re feeling or ignoring. But that never works out, not for the person trying to numb themselves or those around them.
That numbing feeling was especially prevalent with Nick. He was having a hard time expressing his feelings so he tried to express them in a medium that he understood. And that medium was sex. If he could make Charlie feel good, then maybe he would feel good, and they would be okay. But ignoring the problem or your fears of the future, doesn’t make those fears go away. It just delays them and confuses your partner, as we saw happen with Nick and Charlie over and over again until they figured it out thankfully.
This is why their relationship will last in the long run. Because it goes beyond intimacy. Nick and Charlie have a connection grounded in patience with each other without losing oneself to save the other.
The Story Continues
I wasn’t sure how Heartstopper Forever was going to tie up the story that Alice Oseman wrote. Because many of us were hoping for another season. But life sometimes doesn’t work out like that and I’m just grateful we got a movie. And with so many things to tie up in this movie, I’m really glad that they kind of didn’t tie everything up with a perfect bow. Crazy, right? Let me explain.
Nick went off to school and made new friends. Charlie continued being head boy and was working on himself. Elle went to Berlin for school. Tao followed her. Isaac started writing on his book. Darcy and Tara traveled the world. Tori continued her education while Michael worked on his Olympic dreams. Everything just continued for this group of friends that we had fallen in love with over three seasons. And it was perfect simply because in my mind, the story never ends because they’re out there living their lives.
Me feeling like the end of Heartstopper Forever was perfect, despite being open ended in a lot of respects, is also due to the fact that I grew up with movies and TV shows that once the couple got together, that was it. You didn’t see what came after they got together. The woes that came from day to day life, the things that pulled them apart, or those adventures that they went on. Sure, some shows did it like Bones, for example. But a lot of shows avoided getting the couple together because they were afraid or didn’t want to show what happened afterwards.
Growing up, I took all of that to heart. I believed that the end goal was finding someone and that’s it. The adventures ended and a relationship or marriage was the ultimate goal. Heartstopper Forever makes it clear that finding a partner isn’t the end goal. The end goal is living a life worth living doing the things that you love with the people that you love no matter the distance or the time that passes. And in a 2016 like the one we’re living in now, I’m going to hold on to that feeling.
Heartstopper Forever is now available on Netflix.
What did you think about Heartstopper Forever? Let us know in the comments below!
Queerly Not Straight posts Saturdays on Fangirlish with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community. Posts are ONLY published on Fangirlish.
