To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before - Film Review

Every girl has had boys she has had feelings for. However, I bet she never had a boy, or boys plural, to write love letters about her feelings for them. Lara Jean is the main protagonist in the film To All The Boys I’ve loved before. She is a 16 year old girl who writes love letters for all her crushes to establish how she really feels about them. It gives her closure to her feelings and the best part of it: she never sends them! During the making of the film, Jenny Han advocated for Lara Jean to be Korean-American but many production companies shut that down. They wanted a more white main character. Han stood her ground and eventually found Awesomeness TV which allowed Lara Jean to be Korean. The actress that plays her character is Lana Condor and her love interest is Peter Kavinsky who is played by Noah Centeneo. Centeneo auditioned for many roles in the film but later became Peter as Han observed the chemistry between Centeneo and Condor. Most of the cast is very close in real life. 

The film starts out by a goodbye dinner for Lara Jean’s older sister Margo who is heading to university. Within this dinner, Margo’s boyfriend Josh has a flight to the university Margo goes to. However, Margo is not so happy and pulls Josh aside to break up with him. During the break up, the viewers learn who the five boys are in which Lara Jean ‘loved’ and one of them includes Margo’s boyfriend. They used to be close friends before he dated her sister. After Margo leaves for college, Lara Jean finds herself really alone at her school. Although she has her best friend Christine, she is still isolated. Her younger sister, Kitty, takes notice of this and sends the letters to the recipients. The next day, Peter shows up and confronts her about it. He kindly rejects her as he recently broke up with his girlfriend. However, when she notices Josh, she kisses Peter to avoid confrontation. Once Josh stops by her house, Lara Jean fleeds to a nearby cafe. There, she meets with Peter who proposes that they fake a date to get each other's love interest's attention. Lara Jean accepts and they create a contract. 

The cinematography is very beautiful and darker toned. I also loved the chemistry between all the actors. I would argue the movie is very good in terms of young girls coping with how they feel about a certain person and can always write them a secret love letter. However, the movie focuses on Lara Jean and her growth once the letters are sent as she becomes more confident, gains more friends and accepts love. In the beginning, Lara Jean is more shy and invisible but by the end of it, she’s more accepting and confident. In my opinion, it's a light-hearted and heartwarming film that will rekindle your love for rom-coms. This was Jenny Han’s debut film and after all the boys released, she produced the show The Summer I turned Pretty. Both the show and movie were originally books and trilogies. The director's message is to never be scared to confess your feelings. Tell it when you feel it.