It’s hard to believe that it’s finally here. After years of web comics, graphic novels, and a TV series, Heartstopper is finally coming to an end with a feature-length film. Rest assured, it’s a happy ending (as we have been promised by author Alice Oseman since day one), but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been numerous twists and turns to get here that left hearts broken and spirits raised. But the bigger question is, how does it all turn out in a new format the series has never taken? Can they pull off a finale in such a short amount of time compared to what came before? And does it give Nick and Charlie the sendoff we have been hoping for? For the most part, yes, and it still manages to leave the future open for a wealth of stories that could still come.
Fair warning: this review contains full spoilers of the story, so if you have not seen the movie (or at least read the novella Nick and Charlie and Volume 6 of the graphic novel), I would steer clear.
This is it. Nick (Kit Connor) is grappling with college applications and figuring out how to make a long-distance relationship work with his boyfriend Charlie (Joe Locke). Charlie, though, is coming into his own and becoming more confident as he steps into the role of Head Boy at school, which leads to a growing anxiety for Nick as he struggles with demons from his past that make him question his very sense of self and existence. With the end of the school year approaching and tensions between our two leads on the rise, the question becomes whether they will fall prey to the typical high school romance that doesn’t last or if they really will end up together forever.
I know one question that has been on everyone’s mind is whether or not this movie does the books that are the source material justice. Considering that past volumes of the graphic novels have had a full season (or more) to tell their stories, there was some anxiety over whether a 105-minute movie could wrap things up appropriately. And my answer to that is a very happy yes. I’m not quite sure how they did it, but all the main story beats (mostly, more on that later) manage to get squeezed into a much shorter runtime than we are used to, but stay just as effective. From heartbreak and breakups to redemption and butterflies, it’s all here, so huge kudos to Alice and crew, who managed to make this work as well as it did when it really shouldn’t have.
As we dive into the plot, though, we find that this epilogue is really Nick’s story, and it’s a refreshing take on the character we’ve never seen before. Nick’s the golden retriever boyfriend, the people pleaser and fixer. The one we can always rely on to hold everyone else up. But what happens when it gets to be too much, or there is no one there to support anymore? What happens when he needs support? These are the questions presented here, and they are answered admirably. Charlie has always been viewed as the “softer” one with his mental health struggles, bullying, and just overall mousiness. Even in real life, people online are always saying they are a Charlie just waiting for their Nick. But Nicks have baggage too, and it’s on full display here. But that’s great, as it lets both of them evolve into more complex characters who those of us stuck in real life can learn from and identify with.
And speaking of Nick and Charlie, we have to talk about the actors who portray them. It seems like ages ago that Kit Connor and Joe Locke burst onto the scene as the young kids playing these characters, but it’s only been a brief four years. And in that time, they have been stuck inside a professional whirlwind. From Broadway to an A24 film and even the MCU, both have grown as actors and become prolific in their own right. And all of their talent is displayed here. Considering how much other Gen Z talent is on the rise right now, Joe and Kit are both at the top of the list of actors we will look forward to seeing for decades to come—even if the only thing you had ever seen them in was this movie. The two of them share the best on-screen chemistry of any duo I can think of, and the way they react to each other is almost a complex dance that only they know the moves to. Kit especially can display more emotion with one facial expression than actors twice his age and experience can muster in a whole scene. Heartstopper Forever lets them put their full range of talent on display, and what we get is truly masterful.
Unfortunately, this leads me to one of my two issues with the film. Because it is shortened from the source material, and it is Nick and Charlie’s story, the other characters really get the short end of the stick. Now, this isn’t to say they don’t get their due or time to shine and an end to their stories; they do, and it is satisfying. However, so much more happened with them that had to have been left on the cutting room floor, which is sad. I get it. Only so much can be done with such a short amount of time, and if I was excising parts of the story, I would probably have done the same thing, but it doesn’t mean we have to like it.
Lastly, there are some vitally important parts of Nick’s character development that were omitted from the book. Look, I try extremely hard not to compare books and graphic novels to movies, as they are entirely different mediums and art forms. However, there is some dialogue between our two leads that was left out that more fully fleshes out Nick’s growth and positive change as a character. I know the internet has run wild with the Pillow Fort for the sex (and yes, it’s still there and a lot of other places; the two guys are far from prudes in this story), but one of the most critical moments from the graphic novel also takes place there, and it felt shortened, which, to me, is a shame.
So here we are. Nearly 10 years to the day, and the saga of Nick and Charlie is at an end. Well, not quite. Alice has written a ton of one-offs showing them as they get older and spend their lives with each other, and I’m sure she will have more to say as the years go on. But we are at the end of the actual Heartstopper era, and if I’m honest, writing this review really makes it feel real to me. I’ve been a fan for years, and the story of these British high school misfits hits home for me and also a lot of other LGBT youth and people of all ages. People give Heartstopper a hard time because it’s “not real,” to which I want to say, well duh. It’s a fairytale; it’s not meant to mimic the real world. And that’s perfectly fine. Straight people get their happily ever afters, and we deserve ours too. Sure, there were plenty of hard times along the way, and no one was perfect or even fully matured (because, let’s be honest, who really does?), and even though we knew how the story would end up, the journey itself was magical and made us feel and live things we either never got to or never thought we would. I think we all would have rather had a full series sendoff for the show, but the movie still does a wonderful job of putting a nice bow on a story we don’t want to end. Alice, Joe, Kit, and company have truly created magic and proven that lightning in a bottle can happen more than once, and even though we will miss them, we’ll always have the memory of the first time they met and said, “Hi.” And that’s something everyone will always be able to fall in love with.