I remember the first time I saw a John Hughes’ movie. It was Sixteen Candles and I immediately fell in love with Molly Ringwald. Many of his films, as iconic as they are, did not stand the test of time, content-wise, but were enjoyable and relevant to a specific point in adolescence where many can identify. I’m not always looking out for young adult or teen dramas/comedies. I have a genre-bias because young adult movies recently haven’t quite hit me like the ones from my era. 

My era had gems like “Easy A,” “Mean Girls,” “Juno,” “Superbad.” I was low-key obsessed with Michael Cera back then too.

This is the first Netflix Y.A./Teen Original I’ve seen and liked enough to watch exclusively for a month straight.  It was great to see the dad is the love interest from “My Big Cat Greek Wedding;” he hasn’t seemed to age at all.

Yea, this was narration done well.  I feel like many of the “Y.A. novels-turned-film” movies lately have overused voiceover narration and it’s poorly-executed.  Shouts to the cinematographer on this one too—beautifully shot!

My favorite shot: Peter and Lara-Jean are arguing in a school hallway, then they walk into an empty corridor. The middle support beam that separates the double door is a physical representation of each side of their argument–great direction there!

In sum, TATBILB feels nostalgic, with its references to past teen movies, but this is not another teen movie (wink, wink). This film includes socially-relevant topics without a preachy-pulpit aura.

It called out the blatant racism in “Sixteen Candles” with taste.

It did a fantastic job exploring intimacy during adolescence when it’s super awkward.

It tackled cyber-bullying, and emphasized that strong friendships can mitigate tough times.

And, it did a really good job with discussing one of LJ’s former five crush’s sexual orientation while not harping on it, respect.

I’m patiently waiting for the sequel. K’byyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeee!