Heartstopper Forever review: a rushed but lovely conclusion to a beloved series

After three blooming lovely seasons, audiences the world over go into Netflix’s movie-length finale of Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick’s (Kit Connor) teen romance, Heartstopper Forever, with fingers crossed and a pinch of trepidation.

Can they make it to the finish line, in this swoonsome adaptation of the best-selling graphic novel series by Alice Oseman? Or is there an implied question mark hovering just stage left of that title?

Blame Shakespeare and his star-cross’d lovers, Romeo and Juliet, for jinxing the concept of all-consuming teenage crushes that endure.

While there is fictional precedent for young folks going the distance – Marvel’s Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, Saved by the Bell’s Zack and Kelly, and Rick Riordan’s demigods Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, to name a few – plenty founder.

As I hit play, I realised just how invested I am, lasting precisely three minutes before welling up like the happy-tears emoji.

Head boy

After a cute opening montage of happy snaps of Nick and Charlie, the loved-up scrapbook turns the page to begin backstage at school assembly. Charlie’s nervously pacing as he prepares to make a case for why he should be Head Boy.

Encouraged by a kiss from Nick, he speaks ever so eloquently about why he’d prioritise eradicating bullying of all sorts and encouraging young boys to open up about the bad apples that bruise them mentally as much as physically. ‘They made me feel like I was the problem,’ he says. ‘I wasn’t.’

There’s enormous power in this idea of making school safer for the kids who will follow in their footsteps – this, even as Charlie and Nick wrestle with where their futures will lead them after high school ends, and whether there will still be space for their love.

Definitely a little rushed, after all this time, the move from a series to a movie-length finale necessitates paring the cast down to the core crew. Even then, everyone but Charlie and Nick mostly get one or two hero moments.

The on-off-on-again drama of Tao (William Gao) and Elle (Yasmin Finney) continues apace, particularly as the latter commits to her artistic passion with a dream of relocating to Berlin. Her mighty mic-drop monologue about the heinous assault on the trans community, specifically by craven UK politicians and the huge emotional toll they’ve inflicted, is gusty stuff, well-delivered by an impassioned Finney.

Assumptions are silly

With the alphabet well-served in Oseman’s drama, Charlie’s big sis Tori (Jenny Walser) clarifies her relationship with speed-skating enthusiast Michael (Darragh Hand) in a way that nicely dovetails with the journey that low-key fave Isaac (Tobie Donovan) has been on. 

Tara and Darcy (the brilliant Corinna Brown and Kizzy Edgell) have continued to soar, ever since their series-highlight kiss to CHVRCHES’ Clearest Blue, in Season 1, nudged Nick and Charlie’s feelings closer to open air.

As with real life, identities are pretty fluid at this stage (sometimes ongoing), with Imogen (Rhea Norwood) enjoying a reforging of her relationship to former crush Nick, while Connor continues to work comedy gold with his deadpan delivery of ‘bisexual, actually’.

Speaking of erasures, the loss of Olivia Colman to scheduling conflicts, after also being AWOL in Season 3, is a sore one. But Anna Maxwell Martin rises to the challenge of taking on the recast role of Nick’s wonderful mum. She addresses his fear of whether there’s a future for him and Charlie by bringing it back to her boy.

Whatever may come, she’s proud of him, his quiet strength in holding Charlie and others up, plus his calm ability to express himself, even if the great unknown of impending uni has him a little rattled. Meanwhile, the spectre of Charlie’s eating disorder lingers, all dark scribbles crowding out animator Anna Peronetto’s usual pastel swirls of hearts and stars, with Locke ably navigating this worrisome subplot. 

Watch the trailer

Saying goodbye with heads held high

It’s a shame that neither Euros Lyn, who directed the first two seasons, nor Andy Newbery, who stepped in for the third, got to see the story out. But curtain call director Wash Westmoreland brings the requisite experience, having worked with the likes of queer iconoclasts Bruce LaBruce and Todd Haynes, and keeps the pace suitably peppy while zipping through the seasons.

As stuffed as Heartstopper Forever is, it makes room for a gorgeous cameo from Derek Jacobi and a tasty slice of cake, in the cafe where Charlie works, plus a Zoom check-in with Charlie’s therapist (Eddie Marsan) and even a teeny call-up for Call My Agent! star Thibault de Montalembert, as Nick’s absentee douche of a dad. The latter underlines how hard his ambivalence has affected Nick, his mum and his act-out bro David (Jack Barton).

Looping us back to the film’s rousing opening moments, via a nice nod to a very special moment of old, it’s delightful to see the impact Charlie’s speech has on a nervy young lad who gradually overcomes his jitters to join the queer club Charlie founds. Charlie creates this safe space despite a lukewarm, kick-the-can response from the school’s deputy head (Sadly, Stephen Fry’s Headmaster Barnes never appears, not even his disembodied tannoy voice).

This leads to a first-bump moment when art teacher Mr Ajayi (Fisayo Akinade) notes that while he professionally should tell Charlie to do as he’s told, historically, queer people have never waited for permission. There’s just enough time to celebrate his relationship with PE teacher Mr Farouk (Nima Taleghani) coming out of the closet by the time school prom comes around.

Embracing love isn’t always easy, but after thousands of years of LGBTQIA+ communities being persecuted for even acknowledging their feelings, and what with the heinous clawback of rights hard-won of late, the happiness of the gang, standing proud, as led by beautiful turns from Connor and Locke, sure is a salve for wounded souls.

Heartstopper Forever premieres on Netflix on 17 July.

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