Heartstopper Forever makes history for the show with mature age rating

The day Heartstopper fans have dreaded has finally arrived, as Netflix released the beloved teen romantic drama's feature-length series finale. Heartstopper Forever dropped on Friday, July 17 and brought Nick and Charlie's adolescent love story to its natural end before the couple begins the next chapter of their young adult lives. And they did so while making a bit of history.

Since its premiere on Netflix back in 2022, Heartstopper has been championed for being wholesome representation of queer joy from the point of view of teenage characters finding their way in the world. The show has even won multiple Children's and Family Emmy Awards, as recently as this year. But for the first time, the series ventures much further away from being family-friendly.

Heartstopper season 3 went in that direction as the series explored more mature themes, including Nick and Charlie's physical intimacy and Charlie's struggle with his eating disorder. But the wrap-up movie feels like night and day with its TV-MA age rating compared to the show's three seasons. Below, we're sharing a spoiler-free parents guide for what to expect in Heartstopper Forever.

Heartstopper Forever rated TV-MA for sex and language

According to the movie's official page on Netflix, Heartstopper Forever has been give a TV-MA age rating for sex and language. This rating makes history for the series as it's the first TV-MA rating Alice Oseman's series has earned. All three of the show's seasons hold TV-14 ratings, which is essentially the television equivalent of PG-13, though Heartstopper has always been a bit more PG.

Sex and language

First things first, we can get language out of the way since it's not really anything too out of the ordinary. The characters being teenagers speak using expletives, but compared to other series with this rating, coarse language is used much more infrequently. Heartstopper Forever chooses its moments to use heightened language to really punctuate a moment.

As for the sex, the movie definitely has the most sex scenes of the series and the most graphic ones at that (though graphic is a relative term). While there's a lot of kissing and instances of physical intimacy, there is no nudity beyond two male characters being shirtless in various scenes throughout the movie. In this regard, nothing has changed.

But with sex, the relationships have matured. Early on, there's a scene where the couple kisses in public. While in a secluded area, one male character moves his hand into his male partner's pants. Nothing else is shown beyond this. There are at least three more sex scenes with one implying oral sex and the others showing closeups on faces while thrusting.

Drinking and other content warnings

If younger audiences tuned into the original series, the movie might not be appropriate for viewers under 17 or 18. It's not included in the rating, but Heartstopper Forever also features a significant amount of underage drinking. While Nick's technically of age in the UK, he's not in the US. He purchases alcohol for his friends and takes many shots until he's completely drunk.

The movie also contains a scene at a house party where there's obvious underage drinking happening. Apart from sex, language, and drinking, there are other content warnings and potential triggers for viewers to watch out for. Heartstopper Forever continues to navigate eating disorders, self harm, abandonment issues, anxiety, and more problems impacting teenagers.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow