Shadows on the Wall | Heartstopper Forever

Heartstopper Forever

dir Wash Westmoreland
scr Alice Oseman
prd Brett Thomas
with Kit Connor, Joe Locke, William Gao, Yasmin Finney, Corinna Brown, Kizzy Edgell, Tobie Donovan, Nima Taleghani, Fisayo Akinade, Anna Maxwell Martin, Eddie Marsan, Derek Jacobi
release US/UK 17.Jul.26
26/UK Netflix 1h50

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There's a nicely cinematic quality to this film, which wraps up the series about teens grappling with issues around sexuality and identity. They're young adults now, so the film must strike a balance between childhood and more grown-up thoughts and feelings. And while the script tends to steer things in rather cute directions, there are darker and, yes, sexier things going on that make the story resonate strongly.

Now 18, Nick (Connor) and his boyfriend Charlie (Locke) are living their best lives in high school. But Nick is a year ahead, and he's planning to attend university in Leeds next year. They simply can't imagine being so far apart. They also can't keep their hands off each other. In the meantime, Charlie discovers his skills at leadership, while Nick struggles to express how he feels about what is coming. And along with their close group of friends, they confront the major life changes that are coming with the end of this school year.

Chapter headings tick off a year of seasons, both in the weather and the central relationships. Big romantic highs are balanced with flare-ups of jealousy and frustrations with circumstances. There are family celebrations, drunken pub nights and raucous house parties. And as these teens begin to face life as adults, they also look for something deeper between them; the repeating question "You OK?" echoes how the characters worry about each other. Through both lovely and painful moments, the romcom story structure is shamelessly charming.

Enormously likeable, Connor and Locke invest their confidence as rising-star actors into these characters, adding important new textures to their internal journeys. They skilfully play the nagging sense that there might be something wrong between them, especially as they see friends' relationships blow up. Most intriguing is how both Nick and Charlie hate that the other worries about them. And both actors dig deeply into the emotionality, revealing the characters' hearts in a way that beautifully subverts any simplistic sentiment.

Important political ideas are woven through the narrative. Finney gets a particularly moving moment as she expresses Elle's fears about harshly changing attitudes and laws regarding trans people. Charlie takes his role as head boy seriously, cracking down on bullying, because "growing up queer can be isolating and scary". These characters are keenly aware that they occupy space outside the norm, but they also want to take advantage of their unique opportunities. And most of all, they want to find their place.

themes, language, violence, sexuality 11.Jul.26

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