To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You is the 2020 sequel to the 2018 Romantic Comedy To All the Boys I've Loved Before. It is based on the second book of the novel series by Jenny Han, P.S. I Still Love You.
It's a new year, and Lara Jean Covey (Lana Condor) is excited to officially be dating Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo), but is conflicted and anxious about the pressure that comes with dating the most popular guy in school while still being herself. Things get complicated when one of the recipients of her other love letters, John Ambrose McClaren (Jordan Fishernote ), reenters her life, and Lara Jean finds herself torn: can she be in love with two boys at once?
With the exception of Israel Broussard's Josh, the rest of the first film's cast all reprise their roles. Ross Butler, Holland Taylor, and Sarayu Blue have supporting roles as Trevor, Peter's best friend, Stormy, an elderly woman who befriends Lara Jean, and Mrs. Rothschild, the Song-Coveys' neighbor, respectively.
Watch the trailer here
. The film was released on February 12, 2020 on Netflix. It was filmed back to back with the final film in the trilogy, To All the Boys: Always and Forever, which came out a year later.
This film provides examples of:
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Gen. In the book, she explicitly rejects Lara Jean's offer for reconciliation, even after the latter apologizes for the spin the bottle incident. The books also imply that she is still trying to set Peter up against Lara Jean, despite the two having broken up. In the film, she and Lara Jean have a personal girl talk in the treehouse, where they begin rekindling their friendship. She also makes it clear that she has moved on from Peter and merely went to him because he knew what it's like to have parents who divorced.
- Beta Couple: Chris hooks up with Trevor and they seem to be getting along well compared to Lara Jean's current relationship issues with Peter.
- Betty and Veronica: Played With. Lara Jean has more in common with John Ambrose in terms of personality and interests and is insecure about her relationship with the popular and previously unattainable Peter, but Peter is the established relationship and John Ambrose is the New Old Flame.
- Bonding over Missing Parents: Variation; Peter and Gen (re)connect as Peter helps her through her parents' divorce, something he's previously experienced. Although Gen remarks there is nothing romantic over their bonding and that they're both over each other.
- Big Damn Kiss: Subverted. Lara Jean seemingly has a perfect romantic night with John Ambrose, complete with a Dance of Romance and a playful moment in the snow, but when they kiss... it does nothing for her. This makes her realize that she still loves Peter and wants him back.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Almost played straight. Despite being established as a good friend and next-door neighbor of the Coveys in the previous film, Josh is completely absent here. The only evidence that he still exists is a single throwaway line Kitty says regarding his failed relationship with Margot during the family dinner with Peter and Trina (in the book, Josh still appears but less frequently than before, thanks to the awkwardness with Margot and receiving an early acceptance into the University of Virginia).
- Dance of Romance: Lara Jean and John Ambrose do a slow dance at the retirement home ball. Many of the female residents' fangirl over the romance of it.
- Demoted to Extra: Not that Margot was very present in the first film, but she at least appeared at the start and at the end, and her presence was felt throughout the film. In this film, she only appears for a brief video call during Korean New Year as she helps her sisters with proper Korean attire. This is a contrast from the book where Margot does attend the Korean New Year celebration.
- Didn't See That Coming: Haven, Lara Jean's aloof, phone-obsessed cousin, is clearly taken aback when she learns that the woman who kissed Peter in the hot tub video is Lara Jean herself.Haven: That's...cool, actually.
- Dramatic Necklace Removal: When Peter removes the necklace he gave Lara Jean on Valentine's at the aquarium after their breakup.
- Friendship Moment: Lara Jean and Gen, who used to be friends, make steps towards reconciliation at their old treehouse. Lara Jean admits that she's jealous of Gen, and Gen reveals that she's been talking to Peter, not to get him back, but because he's been helping her through her parent's divorce as nothing more than a supportive friend.
- Funny Background Event: While Lara Jean and John Ambrose are dancing at the Belleview party, Stormy can be seen stealing a couple of looks at them in the background, clearly satisfied that the two are hooking up.
- Games of the Elderly: Lara Jean and John Ambrose are volunteering at a retirement home. One of the activities they're shown to do while working there is to run a bingo game. While doing so, they have their own side conversation, causing the seniors to get annoyed with their slow pace and constant chit-chat.
- Grand Staircase Entrance: Lara Jean has such a moment after Stormy gives her a makeover and she walks down the stairs at the retirement home where John Ambrose is waiting at the bottom.
- Kids Play Matchmaker: Kitty, delighted that Peter and Lara Jean got together following her plot, now turns her attentions to setting up her single father. Once again... it works.
- Literally Loving Thy Neighbor: A subplot involves the Song-Covey sisters wondering if their dad is crushing on their neighbor, Mrs. Rothschild. It's implied that he is and that it's reciprocated.
- Love Letter: On Valentine's Day, Peter opens his locker door and a bunch of Valentines fall out. Trevor jokes that they must be from the girls' soccer team, to Lara Jean's concern.
- Love Triangle: Lara Jean is torn between Peter and John Ambrose.
- New Old Flame: A middle school to high school version. Lara Jean is in a relationship with Peter, but starts to have nebulous feelings about John Ambrose when they meet again and she realizes that her crush on him was reciprocated.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: The infamous "sex tape" video which shows Lara Jean and Peter kissing in the hot tub is revealed to have spread far and wide despite having been taken down by Margot through her friend, because Lara Jean's cousin, Haven, who doesn't even live in the same city as her, knows about it.
- Plagiarism in Fiction: The poem that Peter supposedly wrote for Lara Jean isn't original at all. It's "Annabel Lee", with all references to the titular character being replaced with Lara Jean's name.
- Previously on…: The trailer has Kitty rattle off a summary of the previous film to catch viewers up. In the film itself, she recaps these events to the sisters' cousin Haven.
- Promoted to Love Interest: In the books, Trevor doesn't get to hook up with anyone, while the Chris is mentioned to be dating a different boy. The film hooks them up instead.
- Race Lift: John Ambrose is blond-haired, fair-skinned, and "looks like an English farmer's son" in the books. The film makes him Ambiguously Brown (Jordan Fisher has European, Asian, and African ancestry).
- Remember the New Guy?: Trevor is a student at Adler High, a good friend of Peter, and revealed to be part of the same circle of friends that Peter, Lara Jean, Gen, Chris, and John Ambrose formed during middle school, yet his existence was never even hinted at in the previous film.
- Retcon: The Stinger of the first film (John Ambrose turning up at the Covey household) evidently no longer happened, and John Ambrose is introduced in a different way. Not to mention by an entirely different actor.
- Second-Act Breakup: Lara Jean and Peter break up after the former sees Peter getting intimate with Gen and learns that he knew it was Gen who took the photo of her making out with him during the ski trip, implying that he is still keeping in touch with her despite all things considered. She even returns the necklace he gave her during Valentine's to make it official. However, Lara Jean eventually realizes that she still has feelings for Peter when she kisses John Ambrose during the party at the Belleview yet doesn't feel right, so she quickly races to find him. Fortunately, she doesn't have to go far, as Peter himself goes to Belleview to clear up the misunderstanding and give their relationship a second chance.
- Shipper on Deck:
- Kitty is a huge shipper of her father hooking up with Trina and sends a love letter to her in his stead. To a lesser extent, Lara Jean is as well, though she prefers that they are given time to sort their affairs rather being nudged by a third person.
- Stormy ships Lara Jean with John Ambrose. When the former decides that she chooses Peter, however, rather than being disappointed, Stormy supports her decision and encourages her to find him.
- Shout-Out: Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee" is a plot point.
- Snow Means Love: Subversion. Lara Jean and John Ambrose have a sweet moment in the snow and it all leads to a seemingly perfect kiss. But, instead, Lara Jean realizes she still loves Peter when the kiss doesn't feel right for her. A broken-hearted John Ambrose is left standing in the snowfall by himself as Lara Jean simply apologizes and runs off to reconcile with Peter.
- Treehouse of Fun: In middle school, Peter, Lara Jean, John Ambrose, Chris, Trevor, and Gen used to hang out at a treehouse. It is decidedly less fun now that they're in high school and have fallen apart, but it still serves as a plot point when the six of them return there to dig up their old time capsule.
- Twerp Sweating: A brief instance of this happens when Peter comes to pick Lara Jean up for a date. Lara Jean's dad and sister remind him of their curfew (eleven o'clock) and not to have too much fun.
- Unrelated in the Adaptation: In the books, Stormy is John Ambrose's great-grandmother and she does more to push him and Lara Jean together. This relationship is unmentioned in the film, and the three are connected by John Ambrose and Lara Jean volunteering at her nursing home.
- We Used to Be Friends: Lara Jean and Chris were friends with Gen, Peter, Trevor, and John Ambrose in middle school. They drifted apart in the interim, with Trevor, Gen, and Peter becoming popular kids, and John Ambrose moving away. The six reconnect as Lara Jean has been dating Peter, makes strides towards reconciling with Gen, and meets John Ambrose again.
