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Watch ‘To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You,’ Then Watch These Movies

We recommend movies to watch after you see the ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ sequel on Netflix.
To All The Boys: P S I Still Love You
Netflix
By  · Published on February 15th, 2020

Mean Girls (2004)

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One of the only true classic teen comedies of the 21st century, this movie that was initially viewed as a Heathers-lite wannabe is now influencing its own watered-down copies. To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You is one of them, along with its predecessor, mostly for the way that its main character is a brainy type who starts dating the hottest guy in school. But that’s not enough for me to really think of Mean Girls. It’s the sequel’s recycling of the gag where the girl goes to a Halloween party with a clever costume not knowing that all the kids were now too cool to try hard with costumes.

Stream Mean Girls on MAX GO


Say Anything… (1989)

Say Anything, John Mahoney, Ione Skye, Tm And Copyright C Th Century Fox Film Corp All Ri

There are not as many direct references to classic teen movies as I’d expected, and there’s nothing blatantly reminiscent of Say Anything… specifically in To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You — no character holds up a boom box to serenade another — but I was reminded of Cameron Crowe’s feature directorial debut because both feature scenes taking place in a retirement home. The one in Say Anything… is owned by the father (John Mahoney again) of one of the younger main characters, though, and it figures much more into the story than the oddly designed one in the To All the Boys sequel.

Say Anything… is also similarly about a less-popular smart girl who winds up in a relationship with a fun boy with whom she seems incompatible. Though it’s more focused on the boy than the girl. Lara Jean and Peter are not quite as extreme opposites as Diane (Ione Skye) and Lloyd (John Cusack), and their dating life remains comparatively PG, while their relationship requires the love triangle element for easy plotting rather than the sort of character-driven dramatic conflict that makes Say Anything… stand out so well as great movie, not just a great teen movie.

Stream Say Anything… on Hulu


Adventures in Babysitting (1987)

Adventures In Babysitting Kissed Me

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before had Sixteen Candles, and To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You has Adventures in Babysitting as it’s one clear homage. The sequel opens with Lara Jean dancing around her room and getting ready to the tune of The Crystals’ “Then He Kissed Me” diegetically playing on the soundtrack, just as this beloved Chris Columbus comedy does with star Elizabeth Shue’s opening-credits introduction. To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You’s scene ends with an acknowledgment of the reference to the 33-year-old movie from Cathcart as little sister Kitty.

What is the reason for the reference, though? Opening the same way as Adventures in Babysitting forecasts a situation that doesn’t occur in P.S. I Still Love You. In the earlier movie, Shue’s character finishes getting ready and opens her front door to find her boyfriend (Bradley Whitford) not dressed for their anniversary date and needing to cancel because of a supposed sick sibling (and it’s supposedly contagious). That sets up the rest of the movie’s plot as well as the boyfriend being later revealed to be a lying jerk. Lara Jean has better luck with her date, which actually happens and her boyfriend never turns out to be a jerk.

Stream Adventures in Babysitting on MAX GO


Pretty in Pink (1986) and Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)

Some Kind Of Wonderful

John Hughes’ Pretty in Pink is one of the most iconic ’80s teen movies. One year after its successful release, the studio behind it released a near-remake also scripted by Hughes but directed instead by Howard Deutch (father of current rom-com staple Zoey Deutch). The second movie, Some Kind of Wonderful, is a gender-swapped version of the same story of a love triangle in which the protagonist is dating a more-popular character (in Some Kind of Wonderful it’s Zoey Deutch’s mom, Lea Thompson) but should recognize the more-compatible best friend character as their true love.

The difference between the two Hughes movies — spoiler alert — is that Pretty in Pink ends with the main character staying with the popular love interest while Some Kind of Wonderful has them winding up with the best friend. Pretty in Pink‘s main character is a girl, so that would seem more fitting as a recommendation after To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You, which also ends (for now?) with the main character back with the popular choice. But Some Kind of Wonderful has more going on that aligns with the Netflix rom-com franchise, including the jealous ex of the popular love interest who makes things difficult for the main character.

Stream Pretty in Pink on Amazon Prime Video
Stream Some Kind of Wonderful on Amazon Prime Video


The Avenging Conscience: or ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’ (1914)

Avenging Conscience

Finally, going back more than 70 years, we wind up with one of D.W. Griffith’s first features. What’s the significance of this early silent film? Well, it’s based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe, namely the popular stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Pit and the Pendulum” plus the posthumously published poem “Annabel Lee.” Yes, the poem that Peter adapts and seems to mean to pass off as his own for Lara Jean’s Valentine’s Day card. If he wants to copy the whole film and pass it off as his own, that’d actually be okay, since The Avenging Conscience is in the public domain.

Stream The Avenging Conscience at the Internet Archive

 

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Christopher Campbell began writing film criticism and covering film festivals for a zine called Read, back when a zine could actually get you Sundance press credentials. He's now a Senior Editor at FSR and the founding editor of our sister site Nonfics. He also regularly contributes to Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes and is the President of the Critics Choice Association's Documentary Branch.