Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between is the latest Netflix romance movie climbing up its trending charts. The film follows high school seniors who begin an epic breakup date. When they start dating, they make a pact to break up in about a year, because she doesn't want to have a relationship holding her back from her future. Life and love aren't that simple, so their break up may not be as smooth as expected. The Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between movie explores letting go of the past to make room for the future.
Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between is based on a book of the same name by Jennifer E. Smith. The book and the movie share a name and character names but are quite different, and I am going to focus on some of the major differences that alter the plot a bit.
Let’s examine how the Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between movie is different from the book.
Warning: Spoilers ahead about the Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between movie and book.
The Goodbye Day Stops Are Places That Are Significant To Them
In the book, Clare is the one that takes charge of their day. It’s not designed as one big epic date, as in the movie, but as a tour of significant stops in their relationship. They visit places like each other’s houses, parties, the beach, the lake, and school. The stops in the Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between movie are more grand, like a concert, hockey arena, party bus, etc.
This makes sense, because it’s a movie and needs to be more entertaining than just a trip to someone’s basement, plus most epic teen movies need a big party scene. The book goes for the sentimental appeal with these locations, and seem more believable as stops that teens would visit to remember their past. The locations in the film fit more with Aidan’s (Jordan Fisher) characteristics as someone who tries to be perfect.
In the book, Clare and Aidan also don’t make a pact to break up. They’ve been together for over two years and only decide they may have to break up because of college.
Aidan’s Passion Isn’t Music
Book Aidan and movie Aidan are very different. One major difference is their passions. Book Aidan loves lacrosse and has no musical aspirations. His college of choice is UCLA, not Berkeley. He wants to move to the West Coast and UCLA is the best school there that accepted him. For movie Aidan, Berkeley represents his dream of being in the music world.
Book Aidan’s future is heading more towards a career in sports, but he’s still open to figuring out his career goals.
Stella And Scotty Are Romantically Linked
Movie Stella (Ayo Edebiri) is a lesbian interested in one of her female classmates. She’s also cheerful, nerdy, and a bit of a dork. Book Stella would likely not be friends with movie Stella. Book Stella is more of a character; she loves dark clothes and is a bit more pessimistic/realistic. Book Stella also falls for book Scotty.
They have an enemies to lovers romance. The movie kind of plays on this idea with Scotty (Nico Hiraga) admitting to Stella that he once had a crush on her. Movie Scotty also ends up with Aidan's sister, Riley (Eva Day), which doesn’t happen in the book. She and Scotty have kissed before in the book, but it’s something that caused tension between him and Aidan ever since it happened.
Clare Doesn’t Say I Love You With “Easy Breezy"
Movie Clare (Talia Ryder) tells Aidan that she loves him by saying “easy, breezy.” Book Clare does it by saying “I dove you” because of something that happened on one of their dates. Her inability to say “I love you” causes tension in both the book and the movie. It’s also when she finally says it that she becomes more optimistic about the possibility of them staying together.
Aidan in both the book and movie is the one who stops her from letting them stay together. In the book, they break up mid-book but decide to continue their journey. After Clare finally says she loves him, she questions whether they should just stay together. Aidan realizes that she’s right and that they need to stay broken up. Book Claire explains that “I love you” seems too strong to say to someone if it won’t last forever, which is why she’s hesitant to say those words.
Clare’s Parents Aren’t Divorced From Each Other
Book Clare’s parents are still together. However, they both were married before to their high school sweethearts. This is why Clare thinks she should end things with Aidan. She thinks that high school love stories don’t last and deeper love comes after your first. Movie Clare’s parents are divorced high school sweethearts. She sees them as a cautionary tale on why first love doesn’t work.
Book Clare sees her parents as the perfect example of true love. Movie Clare sees hers as the perfect example of why love can fail. They both relate it to why high school romances don’t last.
Aidan Lies About Applying To Harvard
Aidan’s issues with his dad are a major source of conflict in the Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between book. His father wants him to follow in his footsteps and attend Harvard. However, Aidan’s dream has always been to go to the West Coast. Aidan lies to his parents and claims he never got into Harvard. It’s revealed later that he never applied and lied to everyone about it, including Clare.
In the Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between movie, Aidan’s parents pressure him to follow in their footsteps and become a surgeon. He’s planning to go pre-med before Clare convinces him to put himself out there and see what happens in LA. His big lie in the movie is that he never applied to Berkeley. In reality, he applied, but didn’t get into the school.
Clare And Aidan’s “Later” Happens While Still Away At College
In both the movie and book, Clare and Aidan breakup and go off to live their lives apart. In the book, they both go to college. A difference between the book and the movie is that in the book, they also agree to cut off contact until Thanksgiving break. In the Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between movie, they stay in contact.
Once they reunite in the book, over Thanksgiving break, they immediately start kissing. They then cut off contact again because they were both in new relationships at the time. Many months pass without contact, then Aidan out of the blue sends a box to her dorm with a note asking her if it’s time for them to get back together. She thinks to herself that it’s time for their later.
They’ve both been unable to let go, despite doing everything to live apart. In the Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between movie, they meet up again over summer break and their ending is left to the imagination. There is no big gesture like you’d expect from one of the great romantic movies. It’s a simple "let’s see what happens next" moment.
The Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between movie is a coming-of-age story as much as it is a summer romance movie. It’s “easy breezy” lighthearted viewing. You can stream Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between on Netflix, and buy the book everywhere books are sold.
