Heartstopper stars embrace maturity as Netflix drama concludes with feature film

On a sweltering afternoon in Berkshire, a director's voice cuts through the noise of a house party scene: "You're having the time of your lives, remember!" The house sits next to the A308, on the grounds of Bray Studios, and inside it, some of the most recognizable young actors in the world are sweating through take seven—or eight—of a party sequence. It's week six of a seven-week shoot on Heartstopper Forever, the feature film that will close out Netflix's quietly radical queer coming-of-age drama.

The show itself arrived in 2022 like a small earthquake. Adapted from Alice Oseman's graphic novels, it told the story of Nick and Charlie, two teenage boys navigating first love against a backdrop of homophobia, eating disorders, and the ordinary chaos of growing up. The numbers were staggering: nearly 24 million viewing hours in a single week at its peak. Kit Connor and Joe Locke, who play the leads, became household names almost overnight. Yasmin Finney, cast as Elle Argent, a transgender artist, parlayed her breakout role into a spot on Doctor Who. The show did something television had rarely done before: it made queer joy feel not like an exception, but like the natural order of things.

Now, nearly two years after season three, the story is ending not with another season but with a feature film. The characters have aged—Nick and Charlie are 17 and 18, staring down university, gap years, and the terrifying prospect of adulthood. The tone has shifted too. Where earlier seasons bathed everything in a kind of pastel idealism, the film leans into messier truths. Nick struggles with alcohol as he contemplates leaving Charlie. Charlie wrestles with jealousy. There are sex scenes—on a pier, scenes of mutual masturbation—that mark a deliberate move away from the rose-tinted romanticism of the earlier work. "If I'd had my way, I would have had Nick and Charlie cheating on each other," Connor says, laughing. "Because young people do that and don't necessarily need to be villainised for it."

When Connor and Locke sit down for interviews eleven months after that Berkshire shoot, they are visibly different people. Locke still carries something of Charlie in his face, though now styled by professionals. Connor is almost unrecognizable—designer stubble, a hacked fringe, a battered denim jacket, chunky silver rings. He looks like a rock star who just walked off a stage. Both are 22. Both are still processing the fact that it's over. "Heartstopper changed my life in every single way," Locke says. He had never acted before the show. Now he's part of the Marvel universe, living in London, doing work he loves. "I wouldn't be able to live in London at 22 without it. I wouldn't be doing acting. My life would be completely different."

They've also become executive producers on the film, a role that gave them more say in script edits and creative decisions. "Alice knows Heartstopper better than anyone," Connor says carefully, "and we would never want to get our grubby little hands on it too much. But Heartstopper isn't just Alice's any more. It's everyone's." When asked about reports of a 30 percent viewership decline from season two to season three, Locke bristles slightly. He doesn't know how true the figure is, but he's adamant: the audience has remained loyal. And in a world increasingly hostile to LGBTQ+ people, the show's presence on Netflix—available everywhere, even in countries where queerness cannot be openly expressed—feels more important, not less.

Yasmin Finney, speaking on set, frames the show's purpose clearly: "Heartstopper is a form of escapism for queer people. It's not about: 'Look what's happening in the world, feel sorry for us.' It's more: 'This is what queerness can be and it's beautiful.' But I think it's just as important to have realism as it is to have escapism." The film attempts both. Elle gives an impassioned speech about trans rights. Nick and Charlie flip through old photographs of themselves as "babies"—14 and 15 years old—and marvel at how much they've changed.

When asked what advice they'd give their younger selves, Locke answers immediately: "Just enjoy it." Connor nods like a protective older brother. "It shouldn't be scary. Heartstopper is one of the more beautiful things you could ever do. So embrace the beauty of it." Their final scenes together were filmed in Burnham Park in Buckinghamshire, a location that has threaded through the entire series. "It was just us two," Locke says, smiling. "A very nice loving scene." They're not sure they've fully accepted that it's finished. The press tour, Connor suggests, is a way of telling their brains it's not quite done yet. But after this, after the interviews and the promotion, it will hit them. School is out.