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Warning: Spoilers ahead for Heartstopper season 3.
Heartstopper — the queer, British, coming-of-age rom-com series created by Alice Oseman — has been captivating audiences around the world since it premiered on Netflix in 2022. Watchers eagerly tuned in for seasons 1, 2, and 3, dissecting each installment's eight episodes to the max, so, of course, anticipation was high for a potential Heartstopper season 4. But alas, it is not happening. Instead of Heartstopper season 4, we are getting a Heartstopper feature film named Heartstopper Forever.
Heartstopper, which is based on the graphic novel and webcomic series of the same name created by Alice Oseman, is one of Netflix's best-reviewed series and has earned critical acclaim for its positive representation of young queer people. The show has become a massive hit for the streamer and has developed a large, devoted fanbase. Heartstopper fans on social media have been vocal about the impact the show has had on them IRL, including a few who were inspired to come out after watching the series.
While we are certain Nick and Charlie's love story is far from over, the Heartstopper Forever feature film will serve as closure. Below, find everything Alice Oseman and Netflix have said about Heartstopper's ending — including a breakdown of the most plausible timeline.
Has Netflix renewed Heartstopper for season 4?
Netflix has not renewed Heartstopper for season 4. Instead, the streamer has revealed the series will come to an end with a movie. On April 22, 2025, Netflix announced that Heartstopper will conclude with a feature film, bringing Nick and Charlie's story to a close. News arrived on the third anniversary of the launch of season one. The final film has since been officially named Heartstopper Forever.
“I am completely overjoyed that we will get to tell the end of the Heartstopper story," writer and creator Alice Oseman said in a statement to coincide with the renewal news. “I’m so grateful to everyone who has worked hard to make this possible and to the incredible fans of Heartstopper for your patience and passion. I cannot wait to bring this story to a magical conclusion.”
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Previously, Tudum confirmed in October 2024 that Alice Oseman was already in talks with Netflix and the series production company See-Saw Films about a potential return. “As much as I — and everyone else — want the final installment to come to the screen as soon as possible,” Oseman revealed, “there are a lot of moving parts to account for that make it hard to solidify anything. But we’re doing our best and will let fans know as soon as we can.”
Heartstopper season 3 premiered on October 3, 2024, and many anticipated that a renewal announcement would be imminent — after all, the streamer renewed Emily in Paris and Nobody Wants This, which released close to Heartstopper season 3, just weeks after their respective season premieres.
Wait, does that mean Heartstopper is ending for good?
Indeed, the Heartstopper movie will be the final installment of the Netflix show, and Oseman has confirmed this on multiple occasions, as the movie will adapt Volume Six, which will also be the final volume of the series. To end with a bang, Netflix has enlisted Wash Westmoreland (Still Alice, Colette) as director of the film, and Kit Connor and Joe Locke will also serve as executive producers in the project.
Has Heartstopper Forever finished filming yet?
Yes! Alice Oseman and the cast announced that Heartstopper Forever had finished filming on July 27, 2025, showing multiple pictures from their time on set. “Day 35. That’s a wrap on the Heartstopper film,” Oseman wrote on their account, posting a close-up of a tree with an N+C inscription carved inside a heart. “Heartstopper means the world to me, and it’s always been a little scary to put it into other people’s hands, but it’s been met with so much care and passion and dedication and love. I’m so thankful to everyone who has been a part of it… so far! Now we begin the edit!!!”
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Both Kit Connor and Joe Locked also took to their Instagram account to commemorate the last day of filming. Locked posted a film pic of the two actors by the seaside to his main grid, writing: “bye charlie x thankyou <3” Connor, on the other hand, posted a picture of the two to his IG stories, writing: “wrapped ❤️ thank you for everything.”
See-Saw Films and Alice Oseman previously announced that production for the final Heartstopper feature film had begun on June 9, 2025. The creator posted a photo of themselves alongside actors Kit Connor and Joe Locke. Netflix has previously confirmed that production for the Heartstopper film would begin in summer 2025, so it looks like we were a few weeks early.
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When is Heartstopper Forever premiering?
As confirmed on July 28, 2025, one day after the project wrapped filming, Heartstopper Forever will officially premiere on Netflix sometime in 2026. A specific date is yet to be announced. Netflix unveiled the news with a video of creator Alice Oseman and the crew announcing the film's title.
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Previously, Oseman had confirmed via Patreon that the Heartstopper finale would not premiere before Volume Six is out. “I really, extremely, devoutly need the Volume Six book to come out before [the Netflix show] comes out, so people experience the end of the story from the books first. So there's a timer counting down now,” they shared.
Speaking to Tudum in October 2024, Oseman said they are “very much at the beginning” of writing the final chapter and explicitly announced that neither the book nor Heartstopper season 4 would “be out for quite a while yet.”
Speaking to Tudum again in April 2025, Oseman said: “I spent the first few months of 2024 writing the story and dialogue for Heartstopper Volume Six, and I’ve been drawing the pages since last June. I’m currently just over halfway through drawing the book. I hope to finish drawing it by the end of the year … though I’m not sure if I’ll be successful. But I’ll try my best.”
Now that we know we are getting a film in lieu of season 4, timelines might have shifted, especially since production has already started. That's one of the only things working in Heartstopper's favor: production is much quicker than other hit Netflix shows. For reference, filming for season 3 began in early October 2023 and wrapped nearly two months later in December. For promotional reasons, Heartstopper season 3 did not premiere until October 3, 2024, but the episodes were done and ready.
Who is in the cast of Heartstopper film?
It's safe to assume the entire main cast of Heartstopper — or at least the majority of it — would be expected to return. This includes Kit Connor (who plays Nick), Joe Locke (Charlie), Yasmin Finney (Elle), William Gao (Tao), Corinna Brown (Tara), Kizzy Edgell (Darcy), Tobie Donovan (Isaac), Jenny Walser (Tori), Rhea Norwood (Imogen), Leila Khan (Sahar), and Darragh Hand (Michael Holden).
Other secondary characters like Jack Barton as David Nelson, Nick's older brother; Nima Taleghani as Mr. Farouk, a schoolteacher at Truham; Bradley Riches as James McEwan; Hayley Atwell as Nick's aunt, and more could also return.
British actor Olivia Colman, who played Nick's mother, Sarah Nelson, exited the show's third season due to scheduling conflicts. “I couldn’t do number three. I couldn’t fit it in. I feel awful about that," Colman told Forbes. The actor continued to say that Heartstopper was “one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever been part of” and teased that “as long as it’s booked in advance,” she might be able to return for a potential fourth season. Oseman echoed that sentiment on their Instagram Stories, writing, "If we get a season four, I would love for Olivia to be a part of it again!”
What is the Heartstopper movie about?
Heartstopper Forever is confirmed to adapt Volume Six of Alice Oseman's book series. The movie will also interpolate elements from Oseman's novella Nick and Charlie.
ICYMI: Heartstopper season 1 covered the events of Volume One and Two of the Heartstopper graphic novel series, written by Alice Oseman and published in 2019. Season 2 was based on Heartstopper Volume Three, in which Nick and Charlie encounter their first real relationship problems and go on a school trip to Paris, while Season 3 looked to Volumes Four and Five for inspiration.
The third and fourth volumes of the graphic novel series were released in 2020 and 2021, respectively, and the fifth installment hit shelves in December 2023. Oseman is currently working on a sixth book, but there is no release date yet.
Speaking to The Guardian in September 2024, Oseman admitted they were only “50 pages” into the sixth volume. They added: "I know what’s going to happen, what all the dialogue is going to be, and now I’m just sitting down and drawing it, which is my favorite bit. I’m really excited about what’s going to happen towards the end of the story, but it’s also very bittersweet. I also feel it’s absolutely the right time for it to end. It’s very sad, but it’s time.”
On March 27, 2025, the author shared another progress update on Volume Six, revealing they are not yet sure how long the closing chapter is going to be.
“For those inquiring… I'm not yet sure how long Vol 6 will be! I estimate it'll be between 350-400 pages. Vol 5 was 318 pages (not including bonus content)! I try to draw one page per day with the occasional day off,” they shared on their Instagram stories, later also sharing that they've “drawn 205 pages of Vol 6." That means the original material is only 58–51% done.
In their Patreon, Oseman confirmed that the final chapter of Heartstopper — back then still season 4 but now the movie — would adapt Volume Six of the Heartstopper series, plus the Nick and Charlie novella, which was re-released in 2020, combining two solitaire spin-off novellas published by Oseman in 2015. Oseman added that they were “very much hoping that there will be a fourth season, so the show gets to have a proper ending.”
Oseman shared they could “start writing scripts for [Netflix's Heartstopper] before any kind of renewal potentially happens” and that they would probably follow that route since “having 2-4 months each to write seasons 2 and 3 was a genuinely horrible experience.” They added: “I will most likely be drawing [Volume Six] simultaneously while writing the season 4 scripts, even if we haven't been renewed.”
The movie's official synopsis is as follows: “Nick and Charlie are inseparable, but with Nick preparing to leave for university and Charlie finding new independence at school, the reality of a long-distance relationship begins to weigh on them. Doubts take hold, and their relationship faces its biggest challenge yet. Meanwhile, their friends are also navigating the ups and downs of love and friendship, confronting the bittersweet challenges of growing up and moving on. Can first loves really last forever?”
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This story will be updated as more news about the Heartstopper Forever breaks.
