The hit teen gay romance series Heartstopper will end with a movie.
This marks a significant departure from the thirty-minute episodes that have been the standard since the show premiered.
The movie is a welcome development for fans who began to worry when Netflix did not provide any news months after the third season.
Series star Kit Connor‘s comments seemed to prepare viewers for bad news, as he hinted that the story might have reached its natural conclusion.
And while a movie is more than most shows get, it doesn’t feel like it does justice to the little show that made its actors international stars.
Streaming reports reveal that while the series was well-watched in its third season, it didn’t quite reach Netflix’s high threshold for many of its productions.
From a business perspective, it makes sense since they can’t keep producing shows that few people are interested in.
Still, that’s not the case with Heartstopper, which has become a cultural tsunami due to its ability to tackle complex topics positively.
There is a reason why the show has consistently remained top-rated by critics and viewers on sites such as the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, where Season 3 currently stands at an envied 100%.
Based on where the story ended in Season 3, Nick, Charlie (Joe Locke), and all their friends seemed to be at important stages in their lives and were worth following for at least one final season.
The movie feels like a copout, which, in all fairness, might land this ship, but the ship did not need to land this early.
Queer stories barely get told and when they do, streamers and networks don’t treat them with the care they need. Instead, they throw stuff at the wall and hope that something sticks.
Heartstopper ending with a movie continues a concerning trend of networks and streamers seeking an out instead of letting creators see their full vision executed, and it’s scary that they might be setting a precedent for future productions.
The show’s stars have seen their careers explode, but they have always been committed to completing the show that made them stars.
Alice Oseman has always championed their story, even before Netflix got involved.
A movie does not feel justified with these factions still game for the show.
Everything Considered, a ‘Heartstopper’ Movie Is Exciting
We will see how everything ends for Nick and Charlie (hopefully a happy ending).
“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,” Oseman told TUDUM. “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. ” They continued:
“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.”
Based on these comments, it seems like the writer has a strong vision for what they want for the film, and based on what they have delivered before, it will be exciting to see how everything unfolds.
Stream Heartstopper on Netflix before the movie wraps up the story.