Romance movies don’t usually get sequels. They don’t need to, because the whole “happily ever after” cliche is the point of the genre- so why continue the story? You sit and watch a whole movie, witnessing this tension fold right out in front of you; it’s a lot of “will they, won’t they”, grand gestures, and of course, the happy ending that usually contains a love confession and an iconic, spellbinding kiss. To go past that would just be like watching another functional (or dysfunctional) couple going about their day-to-day, and nobody wants to watch that. People want to live vicariously through their movie counterparts, putting themselves in their shoes and fantasizing about their Prince/ Princess Charming.

But considering the commercial success of the movie adaption of To All the Boys I Loved Before, a romance novel written by YA author Jenny Han, a sequel was practically demanded. Unlike the first movie, P.S. I Still Love You follows the plot of the second movie (obviously) where another love triangle unfolds. The movie picks up right were the first one left us- Lara Jean and Peter have just kissed and decided to make their relationship real, but of course, Peter isn’t exactly being a top tier boyfriend. He’s still hanging out with his ex- girlfriend, who was the antagonist in the first film, putting himself first, and just overall kinda being a crappy guy. From there we are introduced to John Ambrose McClaren (Jordan Fisher), one of Lara Jean’s first loves- and one of the five recipients of her unrequited love letters (the main plot point from To All the Boys I Loved Before, where Lara Jean’s little sister sent out these “prized possessions” so that Lara Jean “could just get a boyfriend already!”).

John Ambrose is introduced as a slight conflict, as he poses a threat to this already rocky relationship, arguing the true central romance of the story, and let’s be real, Lara Jean and Peter don’t have much in common other than the chemistry that Centineo and Candor share. John is a dashing musician and gets along easy with Lara Jean. They strike a flirtatious friendship when they meet again after coincidentally volunteering at the same retirement home, where she fails to mention that she now has a boyfriend.

This sequel has definitely divided a nation; half believing that Lara Jean made the right choice with choosing to stay with Peter, and the other deciding that John Ambrose was the “one that got away’ to say the least. The movie did a fantastic job at exploring what truly happens after the “happily ever after”, and showing that even the most perfect falls short to insecurities.