Netflix has debuted first look photos from the upcoming film, Heartstopper Forever, which will serve as the final chapter to the beloved series, Heartstopper. Premiering on July 17, the film picks up after the events of Season 3.
Stars Kit Connor and Joe Locke also serve as executive producers (EPs) for the first time. “These characters have meant a lot to us over the years. As EPs, it feels like we can really say goodbye to them in a way that feels the most right. It is bittersweet, but it is also a really nice way of ending it.” Locke agrees, adding, “This show has meant so much to me in my life. I’ll always carry that with me,” Connor tells Tudum.
The synopsis for Heartstopper Forever reads, “Nick and Charlie are inseparable, but with Nick preparing to leave for university and Charlie finding new independence at school, the reality of a long-distance relationship begins to weigh on them. Doubts take hold, and their relationship faces its 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. Can first loves really last forever?”
Also returning for the film are William Gao as Tao, Yasmin Finney as Elle, Corinna Brown as Tara, Kizzy Edgell as Darcy, Tobie Donovan as Isaac, Jenny Walser as Tori, Rhea Norwood as Imogen, Leila Khan as Sahar, Fisayo Akinade as Mr. Ajayi, Nima Taleghani as Mr. Farouk, Bradley Riches as James, Darragh Hand as Michael, and Eddie Marsan as Geoff Young. Anna Maxwell Martin (Ludwig, Philomena) and Derek Jacobi (Gosford Park, Last Tango in Halifax) join the cast.
On a basic level, of course, I want the movie to be a beautiful and emotional send-off for the Heartstopper story — celebrating what Heartstopper means to people, while offering a chance to say goodbye to our beloved characters, and many hints of what’s to come in the characters’ future lives. On a slightly deeper level, I think this movie will explore what makes love survive, or what elevates it, or deepens it. At 18 and 17, Nick and Charlie are hurtling towards their adult lives. Many teenage relationships don’t survive that pivotal moment of change. Are Nick and Charlie a forever love? If they are, why? I want the movie to capture this transitional moment for them as a couple — from teens to adults, from teen romance to forever love, from past to future. And in doing so, get to the heart of what teenage love can become as adolescence becomes a memory, and what teenage love can mean for people in the overall picture of their lives. An exploration of time, memory, love, pain, the changing of the seasons, endings and beginnings, and the core element of Heartstopper: the ordinary magic of our everyday lives. – Creator, executive producer, and graphic novelist Alice Oseman tells Tudum.
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