(courtesy IMP Awards)
Is anyone really and truly a fan of goodbyes?
There’s a saying that flies round when someone skips out on a fond and meaningful farewell that goes something along the lines of “I’m not good at goodbyes”, and it’s said like that person, and that person alone, is the only one who hates the very sad and often final act of saying “goodbye”.
But no one likes them, and no, that does not require a spoiler alert of any size, shape or colour, which is why I think I can safely say it’s why the world’s a little sadder at the fact that the Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman, both in graphic novel and televisual form has now come to an end.
There was something super special about being along for the journey with Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) as they eyed each other off at Truham Grammar, finally gathered up the courage to say the now highly iconic “Hi” (no exclamation point and heavy on the wistful sighing, if you please) and weathered a whole metric ton of issues.
They got through it all and came out the other side deeply and wonderfully in love, which is exactly how we find them as Heartstopper Forever begins its yer-long, seasons-heavy narrative, based on the recently-released sixth graphic novel in the series.
Hanging over their heads is the fact, well it’s spoken about as fact and maybe it is, who knows, that teenage relationships don’t last – case in point are Nick and Charlie’s friends and adorable couple goals personified, Tao Xu and Elle Argent (William Gao and Yasmin Finney respectively) who don’t look like they are going to last the distance (though their deep, abiding friendship just might) – a possible truism that gains even more potential relationship-crushing weight when you consider that Nick will graduate and go to university far away a whole year ahead of Charlie.
It’s a test run for all the upheavals and separations of adulthood, upon the rocky if exciting precipice of which Nick and Charlie’s entire, gorgeously and fabulously queer group of close knit friend are dangling with nervous anticipation.
If you think that’s a lot, then consider the fact that Heartstopper Forever also throws into the mix the fact that Charlie is now ———- SPOILER ALERT !!!!! ———- Head Boy with a whopping 61percent of the vote and might not need Nick as much as he once did, something which freaks the hell out Nick who, and this causes some fairly drunken and emotionally reticent issues, cannot articulate that he is feeling tis way.
So, just when the perfect queer couple to end all queer couples, and let’s face it, they give a lot of seemingly lovely hetero couples a run for their money too, really need to pull together, shore up the barricades and remember how much they LOVE each other, some messy, hooky and hard to explain issues may sabotage the one relationship, save for that of Tara Jones and Darcy Olsson (Corinna Brown and Kizzy Edgell respectively) who have all kinds of just-right old married couple vibes, that could actually stare down that much ballyhooed truism of teen relationships have a finite and soon-to-expire shelf life.
Not the best of all possible timings but when has growing up ever marched to a conveniently timetable?
Pretty much never, and part of the relatable appeal of Heartstopper Forever is that it doesn’t pretend that love can forestall any and all amount of problems; to be fair, the series as a whole has never pretended otherwise, and its ability to balance love, true love and gritty uncomfortable real life has always been one of its great strengths, but Heartstopper Forever really ups the ante, thrusting (and yes, that word is very pertinent in a movie where Nick and Charlie are all grown-up-ish and enjoying the physical fruits, shall we say, of their union) Charlie and Nick into the uncomfortable reality that love is a decision, not just a thing that happens to you.
Yes, Nick and Charlie, thanks in part to some sage epiphanies, and parental advice courtesy of Nick’s mum (Anna Maxwell Martin, replacing Olivia Colman) come to realise that while theirs is a unique and special union that will likely defy time and much-bandied about teenage relationship lore truisms still requires them to know each other, accommodate their strengths and weaknesses and choose accordingly.
That’s a lot of self learning on one movie but with the series’ trademark infusing of whimsy, cuteness, sweetness and stark emotional honesty, Heartstopper Forever manages to make it feel wonderfully enveloping and almost comforting.
Comforting, you say? How can all that turmoil and those vertigo-inducing ups-and-downs feel even remotely comforting?
Ah, that’s because at the heart of Heartstopper Forever, as it has with the series as a whole, sits the truth that if you can hang onto love, the once in a lifetime kind that can stare down all kinds of trials and trauma, then a whole lot of other stuff can be weathered and even thrived through.
It won’t be easy, and Heartstopper Forever doesn’t pretend it will be god bless its honest to the core queer self, but you can come out the other side, wiser and better for the experience, and still quite beautifully in love.
It’s that declaration of queer love being as strong and true as any other kind of love, because it is precisely that kind of love – “Love is love” might be bumper stick ubiquitous but within lies some truly arresting salient truth – that has percolated through all the various media of Heartstopper, reassuring those going through all queer growing up and those well past it but still dreaming of it or living it if they are super lucky, and which has made it the perfect antidote to the prevailing streams of queer storytelling that proclaim everything is bleak and barely survivable.
Those darker stories absolutely matter and do reflect the truth of what the LGBTQIA+ community has had to long endure, and I for one am deeply grateful they are there, but Heartstopper Forever goes as the series as a whole began, reminding us that queer people know love too and it’s real and perfect and good and self-sacrificing and beautiful and that it can weather a whole world of storms and still look startling gorgeous and real, after the fact.
Yes, it’s hard to say goodbye to Heartstopper but good lord have we not been enormously lucky to have it, and as we walk into some dark fascistic times ahead, including an horrific assault on trans right which Heartstopper Forever beautifully counters, it’s good to know we have Alice Oseman’s storytelling and fine performances from gifted actors to remind us whenever things start to feel impossibly awful.
Heartstopper is our antidote and sanctuary and protection and reassurance and we should be eternally grateful we have it and that its salient, comforting truths are just a streaming service log-in or bookshelf reach away whenever we may need it.
Heartstopper Forever streams on Netflix (and make sure you check out the farewell special Heartstopper: Ending on a Hi).