Hachette Children's Group; Netflix Logo text Some stories refuse to stay on the page. The Hollywood Reporter’s Beyond the Book column explores what happens when books make the leap to screen and beyond — unpacking what changed, how it was done and why it matters with the creatives who made it.
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[This story contains major spoilers for Heartstopper Forever.]
Over the last year, writer and artist Alice Oseman has had the privilege of saying goodbye to Heartstopper three times. There’s the July release of the final graphic novel, Heartstopper Volume Six, and the April publication of the webcomics’ last pages online. But their first goodbye came out of order for an adaptation, taking place nine months earlier when filming concluded on Heartstopper Forever.
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In the Wash Westmoreland-directed movie conclusion to the Netflix adaptation, the newly elected (and confident) Truham Grammar School head boy, Charlie (Joe Locke), is facing an increasingly closed-off boyfriend. Also in the midst of deciding about university, Nick (Kit Connor) is withdrawing amid his anxieties and questioning whether he’ll take his next steps with or without Charlie. The duo’s friend group shares similar questions as they navigate prom, Pride, graduation, and an unexpected break-up between their two friends. It’s an installment that takes its teen ensemble to new places, while honoring the journey — the snowball fights, trips to the seaside, and the room where Nick and Charlie first kissed — that got them there.
Stepping outside the format of an eight-episode season of TV, Heartstopper Forever had Oseman “excited by the idea of the film feeling more cinematic from the outset,” says Westmoreland. But it also presented a unique adaptation challenge. “For the first time, the book isn’t complete before we’ve started filming,” Oseman recalled during a set visit in July 2025. “I was writing the last volume of Heartstopper last year, but several times, we’ve had to film a scene that I hadn’t drawn yet, which was kind of scary. We had no references.”
It also required condensing the final volume into a two-hour format. “Having less screen time to work with in a film was a big challenge, and it forced me to have to be really precise about what’s in the story and to get rid of anything that’s not necessary,” Oseman said during that set conversation. “You stay with the main characters for much longer periods of time, which feels very different to the TV show.”
Concessions were made in the adaptation process, including a montage of Nick and Charlie enjoying Christmas together, according to the director. But “Alice wrote the script so that it focused predominantly on Nick and Charlie,” the director, in his only interview for the film at publish time, tells THR. “It seemed right that this final chapter should take a deep dive into the complexities of this central relationship as the story moves to its conclusion.”
“Right at the beginning, when Charlie plays with the dogs in the garden, surrounded by both practical falling autumn leaves and the animated leaves that have always been part of Heartstopper — for me, it quietly announces what the film is trying to do: honour the visual language of the series while taking it into a more grounded, realistic world,” Westmoreland tells THR. “The characters are now 18, or almost there, and it felt right that the filmmaking should mature alongside them. As they’re becoming more emotionally complex, the performances deepen, and I wanted the visual language to reflect that.”
In conversations conducted ahead of Heartstopper Forever’s release, Westmoreland, Oseman, Locke, Connor, and other cast members explain how the Heartstopper film delivered several major moments and adapted the message behind the graphic novel’s ending for the screen.
Nick and Charlie’s Emotional and Physical Relationship Matures Onscreen
Joe Locke and Kit Connor in Heartstopper Forever. Samuel Dore/Netflix During much of Heartstopper’s run, its sentimentality has led to claims that the series doesn’t portray certain aspects of teenhood realistically. But for Oseman, whose love story has always explored heavier but relevant subjects, that earnestness isn’t something to shy from. “I think sometimes people can cringe away from that a little bit, and they’re like, ‘It’s too much,’ but I love that about it,” they tell THR.
That earnestness doesn’t quite vanish in Heartstopper Forever. But the film leans further into new territory with its leading romantic duo, taking their physical relationship to different places following the events of season three. With both boys squarely in their young adulthood, the film not only uses intimacy to depict the evolution of their relationship but also offers a realistic representation of teen sexuality.
“There are four main scenes of physical intimacy in the film, and each one reveals a different stage in Nick and Charlie’s relationship. We felt it was very important that none of them existed simply for their own sake. Each scene had to carry the story forward and reflect where the characters were emotionally at that particular moment,” Westmoreland says.
Collectively, the sequences depict healthy, sex-positive experiences while individually illustrating an equal partnership — one that disregards stereotypes around roles in queer sex and embraces men showing up emotionally.
“Alice was very clear that Nick and Charlie are sexually versatile, and we wanted to honor that,” Westmoreland explains. “At the same time, Heartstopper has an audience that includes young teens, so it was never about explicitness. Our focus was always on the emotional truth of the scenes — so that the physical intimacy expressed what they couldn’t yet put into words. In Nick’s case, especially, there are moments where physical closeness becomes a way of avoiding the conversation he knows he needs to have.”
The sequences cap off a half-decade romantic journey and offer a counter to some of Heartstopper’s detractors. “Kit and Joe were completely on board throughout the process. Together with our intimacy coordinator, Robbie Taylor Hunt, they approached every scene with professionalism, thoughtfulness and, naturally, a few giggles,” the director says. “Some people will say there’s not enough sex in it, some people will say there’s too much. Perhaps some people might even say, ‘It’s just right.’”
A Relationship Hurdle Results in a Role Reversal for the Leading Duo
Heartstopper Forever Samuel Dore/Netflix As Nick and Charlie’s sexual experiences expand on screen, so do their emotional and relationship dynamics, with the duo undergoing a role reversal of sorts, which fuels a dramatic break-up. “That is not something that happens in Volume Six. It’s actually in a short story from 2015, which I wrote before Heartstopper, [titled] Nick and Charlie,” says Oseman. “I felt like when I was making Volume Six, that scenario just didn’t make sense for those characters, whereas with the film, we’re always looking to push the tension and angst just a little bit more, so it felt like an idea that could work really well for the film.”
The blow-up is partly a result of Charlie’s transformation, going from an underdog “who’s been bullied and suffered from mental health issues.”
“He’s been through the wringer in a lot of ways. In this film, we see that Charlie is actually someone to look up to. He’s not just this person who’s been through a lot, but who’s used it to triumph and take a step in the direction that he wants to be with his life,” says Connor. “In the same way, Nick has always been this character that we’ve grown to see as quite strong and wise beyond his years; a very mature and emotionally intelligent character who closes down [in the film]. He isn’t really able to discuss and articulate the things going on inside his head. He doesn’t even know where to start.”
“Alice had located Nick and Charlie’s break-up at Harry Greene’s party, and that felt exactly right because Harry has always represented a more toxic side of their teenage world. We leaned into that by creating a kind of teenage manosphere — a basement rave full of young men, pounding dubstep, vivid lighting and huge projections of Mako sharks. It’s an environment that’s visually arresting but emotionally quite hostile,” Westmoreland tells THR about how they adapted the split for the film.
“This was the perfect set-up for [giving] Kit and Joe the opportunity to deliver two extraordinary performances,” he continues. “What’s heartbreaking is that they still love each other and they’re both trying to communicate, but for the first time, they’re no longer in sync. Throughout Heartstopper, communication has always been their superpower, and here it suddenly fails them.”
Fans of the graphic novel series may notice the storyline is not exactly what’s in the 2015 novella — a choice that made sense for their screen incarnations, says Oseman. “I did change a lot of what happens in that argument and break-up, but I think it really makes sense for Nick and Charlie on screen, where they’ve both got their own issues that they’ve been dealing with, and are feeling so anxious about the future. They love each other so much that they talk themselves into the idea that the other person is probably better off without them, which I think is a very Nick and Charlie argument to have.”
The plot point adds another shade to both characters’ multitudes. “You really start to believe that this fight is actually quite palpable. How are they going to get back from this?” says Connor. He adds: “It’s a nice way of reminding people that these characters are human and that sometimes the person who you think has everything sorted out might not have everything worked out. And the guy who has been struggling isn’t going to always be struggling, and can achieve amazing things and move past things.”
The Film Celebrates and Defends the LGBTQ+ Experience
From left: Bel Priestly and Yasmin Finney in Heartstopper Forever. Samuel Dore/Netflix Heartstopper has never been shy in advocating for the rights of LGBTQ+ people, even with a more earnest tone. That became clearest in season three as Charlie’s friend, Elle, faced transphobia while navigating a relationship with friend-turned-boyfriend, Tao. With Heartstopper Forever, that thread continues as Elle leads a Pride parade float surrounded by members and allies of the trans community, while also delivering a poignant reminder that for LGBTQ+ teens, there are sometimes bigger challenges in the world than a little teenage heartbreak.
“Alice and I talked about expanding Elle’s storyline to reflect some of the realities facing trans young people today,” says Westmoreland. “During preproduction, she wrote an incredibly moving scene in which Elle articulates everything she’s carrying, and on the day, Yasmin Finney absolutely nailed it.”
“Almost more significant than the Pride parade itself is when Elle has her big speech in Charlie’s bedroom, where she’s like, ‘You’re going through something. I’m so sorry, but let’s also have a look at what’s going on in the world right now. I’m really scared. There’s so much that I’m dealing with constantly,’” Oseman says about carrying Elle’s season three storyline through the film. “I wanted Elle to have that moment where she lets it all out in one go.”
To properly deliver that moment, Oseman “had a lot of conversations with Yaz about that speech, where I would write a draft, and then she would write her own draft, and then we combined those two things together to really find something that felt authentic.”
When it came to the colorful, celebratory Pride sequence, filming the parade was one of the film’s biggest challenges. “We discussed attaching ourselves to an existing event like Brighton Pride, but quickly realised it wouldn’t give us the flexibility we needed. Instead, Burnham Town Council generously allowed us to take over their High Street on a Sunday. They were incredibly supportive, letting us hang banners and Pride bunting across the street while our art department built the floats.”
The sequence required about 600 supporting artists, with Oseman putting out a call on Instagram asking for volunteers. “Within an hour, over 5,000 people had applied. We selected the 600 we needed, and they arrived dressed, energized and ready to go,” the director adds. “It was also the final day of shooting, so there was a genuine sense of celebration in the air. And stress for me! But the emotion you see in that sequence is shared by the cast, the crew, and hundreds of Heartstopper fans who helped us bring that moment to life. It was genuinely queer, genuinely wonderful, and genuinely something AI cannot replicate.”
Elle’s story is just one example of how Heartstopper Forever honors the real, modern experiences of LGBTQ+ teens. In the film, characters like Nick’s friend Imogen (Rhea Norwood), Charlie’s friend Isaac (Tobie Donovan) and Charlie’s sister Tori (Jenny Walser) also illustrate how Heartstopper champions discovering and being comfortable with one’s sexuality. Anticipated moments like Tori’s conversation about her asexuality with Charlie are affirming of the diversity of LGBTQ+ identities, but they don’t aim to encourage the idea that everyone needs to ascribe to a specific label.
“We do have a lot of characters who have an identity label. Some of those characters have discovered that over the course of the show-slash-film, but we have other characters who are just queer and they don’t need to explain, and we don’t even need to know the specifics,” says Oseman.
The Heartstopper Forever Ending, Explained
Heartstopper Forever Netflix Oseman admits that “giving all the characters a satisfying conclusion to all of their stories was a challenge” as “there’s just not enough room to do big sweeping storylines for every single one of the characters.” So what is present is a montage featuring a mix of couples as they connect or reconnect in the near future.
According to Westmoreland, it was complicated to shoot due to its many different locations. “But we linked it through a series of flowing horizontal and vertical camera moves so it would feel like one continuous emotional journey rather than a collection of separate scenes,” he says. “It connects the whole Heartstopper gang as they step out into the world. They’re all moving forward individually with a stronger sense of who they are, but, at the same time, it shows the bonds between them are unbreakable.”
Charlie and Nick’s long-time friends, Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell), end up choosing a path together, forgoing college plans for a gap year that allows them to travel. “Tara has always lived her life as a people pleaser, but now she’s found herself and really steps into that. She doesn’t need any grade to define her. She thinks if I’m happy in this loving relationship, and I’m living my best life, why does that have to stop?” Brown tells THR. “She finally gets the courage to just make the jump and explore the world. That’s so beautiful. You learn so much from your experiences, and I can’t even begin to imagine what she and Darcy discover on their travels. It leaves the door wide open.”
Tao and Elle ultimately decide they can’t do long distance at university and split. But for Oseman, their ending is intentionally open-ended and ambiguous. “We see them come back together one final time at the end. Does this mean they’re actually getting back together, or are they just friends? We don’t really know, and I don’t even really know for sure what I want the answer to be,” they say. “But I like the idea that your story doesn’t end when you leave school. There’s the whole rest of your life to live, and that story can continue into adulthood.”
Oseman adds that “the truth of the love that they have for each other is still so present when they’re together,” and that they “personally see Tao and Elle’s story continuing to evolve as they get older. I don’t really know what the outcome of that is, but I certainly like the idea that Tao and Elle’s story isn’t quite over,” they say. “Elle’s love for art blossomed so strongly over the series, and when she was in Paris, she was thinking, ‘This is what I want to do with my life.’ In that final scene in the movie, we see that she’s doing exactly that, but the thing that she’s painted is Tao. Her love for painting is very present, but her love for Tao is still there.”
In terms of Nick and Charlie’s ending, according to Locke, “we always knew that they were going to end up together. It was always going to be a happy ending,” he tells THR. “And I think we were always aware that they were going to break up for a bit at some point. I’m really glad that the film almost doesn’t sugarcoat any of that.”
Adds Connor: “One of the beauties of this ending is the fact that it doesn’t necessarily say that they’re going to be together forever. The slightly boring way would have been to flash forward, and they get married or something. The beauty is that they may end up together, and they may not, but they’ve had this amazing formative time together. They have found a way to be a part and still connect. It is accepting the fact that we can actually exist independently, but we love being together even more.”
For Westmoreland, the ending “needed to feel that, through everything they’d experienced in the break-up, they had reached a place where they were ready to make a deeper commitment to each other,” the director says. “Of course, none of us knows what the future holds, but as far as Nick and Charlie are concerned, they’re choosing to ride into it together.”
As for whether Connor or Locke would return for future Heartstopper adaptations, Locke doesn’t want to return “for the sake of it, so if there was a good story and Alice wanted to, then never say never.” Adds Connor: “If we were just EPing and if it was a good story, yeah, I’d be interested.”
Heartstopper Forever is now streaming on Netflix.
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