We’ve all been there before…that moment where you can’t stop laughing, crying, screaming, that moment when your heart pounds harder and harder every second of the movie: the moment you’ve found a true rom-com. In other words, it’s when you’ve found “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before,” a movie series on Netflix that has been receiving a lot of global attention. To be able to understand part three, you will first need to watch parts one and two. The third movie in the series, “To All the Boys: Always and Forever,” came out right before Valentine’s Day, 2021, making it the perfect opportunity for all the single people to soak in their tears and all the couples to enjoy one another’s company.

The series is focused on a teenage girl who faces boy problems as she makes her way through high school. Lana Condor plays Lara Jean, a romantic who gets stuck in a sticky situation when all of her secret love letters get mysteriously mailed to her crushes. Lara Jean then goes on a hunt to get the letters back but finds herself in an even messier situation.

In the recently released third movie, Lara Jean struggles to decide which college to attend: somewhere close to her boyfriend, or a college that fulfills her own dreams? Who knows what decision Lara will make. The life choices which Lara Jean is forced to make in the third installment of the series are not only difficult for her, but very hard for the audience as well. 

The movie did great with visuals and the storyline was beautiful altogether. Even though Lara Jean was indecisive because she was thinking of her boyfriend other than herself, she still snapped out of the phase of being close to her boyfriend at all times. She reveals her capacity for bravery, in speaking up for her future.

Lara Jean is kind and gentle for she was being selfless by including her boyfriend in her decision even though she doesn’t have to. She teaches the younger audience that there is a time and place for everything, and you don’t always have to rip the band-aid off all the time.

Previously, there has been some controversy about how the movie portrayed the character of Lara Jean to be “desperate” for her boyfriend. Some fans felt like Netflix was portraying women in a light that sold them short to men, putting their dreams on hold while men got to live their lives to the fullest. Others felt like Netflix was strictly producing content for their monthly viewers to enjoy and love.

Some, however, were hoping that Netflix would create role model characters for the impressionable teenage girls who are watching and could possibly start second guessing themselves when they see characters like Lara Jean.

Nevertheless, I found the movie to be very entertaining and relatable. We all have been there before. Maybe some of the audience read too much into the script versus the overall outcome of the movie.