Heartstopper Forever: Stars bittersweet about bidding farewell to queer love drama
Joe Locke and Kit Connor in Heartstopper Forever, on Netflix.
When the queer coming-of-age drama premiered on Netflix in 2022, it became an instant hit and catapulted its leads, Kit Connor and Joe Locke, to stardom. Based on Alice Oseman’s best-selling graphic novel series, the show follows teenagers Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring, whose friendship gradually blossoms into a romantic relationship.
Over its three-season run, was widely celebrated for its warm, affirming portrayal of LGBTQ+ youth, as well as its sensitive exploration of mental health, intimacy, and the uncertainties of early adulthood. Now, the story is set to conclude with the feature-length finale,
The film finds Nick and Charlie, now 18 and 17 respectively, navigating a new chapter in their relationship as Nick prepares to leave for university, while Charlie begins to find his independence at school. The distance between them soon begins to test their bond.
For the more stoic Nick, the prospect of leaving the occasionally fragile Charlie leads him to rely increasingly on alcohol, while Charlie grapples with feelings of jealousy and insecurity.
An exploration of the transition from adolescence to adulthood, reflects on memory, love, loss, and the bittersweet nature of beginnings and endings.
Speaking about the story coming to an end Connor, 22, says: “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.
Speaking about Nick’s journey in the film, the London-born actor says: “In the film, Nick is struggling a little bit with who he is as a person and especially in relation to who he is without Charlie. Throughout the show, we’ve seen Nick with ups and downs, but he’s been this strong support system for Charlie, and suddenly Charlie is really doing quite well.
“And as happens in life, Nick is faced with this question of, ‘If I’m not a support system and if I’m not what I thought I was, then who am I?’ So he’s wrestling with that a little bit.”
Reflecting on the changes Nick is going through, he says: “He is at a point where his life is about to change a lot. He’s getting ready to go to uni and he doesn’t really know where he wants to go or what he wants to do or who he wants to be.
“So his anxiety really comes through in this fear of the unknown, and desperately trying to work out every possible outcome and how that outcome will affect his life and his relationship with Charlie.
“Their relationship is suddenly in a different place than it’s ever been before and neither of them really know how to adjust to it. There’s a difficulty in communication, as many young people find, it’s hard to really communicate our feelings and our anxieties.”
Speaking about the significance of the show, he says: “For queer joy to be on everyone’s screens and for it to be so accessible is just a basic thing, isn’t it?
“Everyone deserves joy and everyone deserves to feel represented and seen. It can be scary and it can be easy to lose hope for the younger generations in the world that we’re all living in at the moment.
“But I think the fact that people still love and care about so much is a testament to the fact that there is a huge audience for it, and that people love to see queer joy on full display.”
Locke, also 22, compares Nick and Charlie’s story ending to “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,” explains the Manx actor.
“I think one of the nice things about is that, from the first part of season one, you know that the ending is always going to be happy. There’s no doubt about that.
“The audience is always aware that this is how it’s going to be. I think Alice has written the perfect ending because you could carry on the story forever and you know how it would go.”
Speaking about Charlie’s journey in the film he says: “In season three, Charlie had a bit of a harder journey. He struggled with his mental health and that was a big plot point. A lot of the film is seeing Charlie in his power. He’s very self-assured and confident and you really see the arc of the character over these four instalments.
“He’s grown up now, he’s a man, he’s excited about the future, and it was really nice to be able to play that with the self-assuredness that I have in myself now compared to when we were doing season one.” Speaking about his hope for Nick and Charlie’s future, he says: “I hope they get married, have a dog, some children and live very happily ever after.”
Oseman, 31, says it’s very bittersweet to close the chapter on the story. “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 says. “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!”
Speaking about ending the series with a film, she says: “It’s a different format that I hadn’t tried yet, so it was a step into the unknown.
“But I think it allowed us to create something quite different and special compared to the three seasons of the show. It feels cinematic. It’s an exciting, impactful, explosive finale, and it allows us to stay with the characters for longer. I’m really excited for people to have that new experience.”
Heartstopper Forever premieres on Netflix on Friday, July 17
