The Heartstopper Forever film landed on Netflix on Friday, July 17, with fans all over the world bidding farewell to the beloved queer series.

Heartstopper first hit screens in 2022, based on Alice Oseman’s best-selling graphic novel series of the same name. It follows teenagers Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) and Charlie Spring (Joe Locke), as well as their friend group, as they navigate identity, relationships, mental health, and the transition into early adulthood. 

Across its three seasons, the show was lauded for its portrayal of LGBTQ+ youth. In the most recent episodes before the finale film, Nick and Charlie were madly in love, as the former prepared to leave for university and the latter was finding new independence at school.

Heartstopper Forever picks up from this point, as the reality of a long-distance relationship looms over the couple. Doubts take hold, and they face their biggest challenge yet. 

Meanwhile, their friends are also navigating the ups and downs of love and friendship, confronting the bittersweet challenges of growing up and moving on. The film asks: can first loves really last forever?

Written once again by Alice Oseman, the feature is directed by British director Wash Westmoreland, also known for his work on Still Alice. Early reviews have been largely positive, with Variety describing it as a “wistful and mature ending” for Nick and Charlie.

 

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Fans have also been having their say on Heartstopper Forever, with emotions clearly running high.

One Letterboxd user gave it four and a half stars, writing “not a dry eye in the room… i love being queer”. Another person shared, “scared and confused little me sobbed the whole way through this”.

In a similar vein, a four-star review reads, “Heartstopper really said ‘don’t cry because it’s over’ and then made everyone cry because it was over”.

The stars themselves have spoken about the series’ conclusion. Kit Connor said, “It feels very bittersweet. It feels quite strange, but also a very nice way of ending it. I think everyone in the cast and crew feels quite content with the way that we’ve said goodbye.”

Meanwhile, Joe Locke described the story ending as like “sending your child off to university… It feels like we’ve done all the work of bringing it up and now it’s time to push it out into the world and let everyone else have it forever.”

Alice Oseman also weighed in, saying, “Obviously I’m sad to be saying goodbye to all of these characters that I adore, but I’m also really proud that it’s a complete story.”

She added, “We made it to the end and it’s an ending that I’m really, really happy with and excited about as well. There’s a whole mix of emotions!”

Heartstopper Forever is available to stream now on Netflix, and if you’re not quite ready to say goodbye, a behind-the-scenes special will also be released on the platform on July 24.