‘Forever’ review: A magnificent, modern reimagining of Judy Blume’s classic

Forever — Judy Blume’s 1975 classic novel about two New Jersey high schoolers falling in love and embarking on a sexual relationship — still gets banned to this day. At the time, Blume’s depiction of teenage sexuality was considered both shocking and groundbreaking, and those of us who read it growing up are unlikely to forget it.

Fifty years after its release, Forever gets its first-ever TV series adaptation from Mara Brock Akil, the creative force behind Girlfriends, The Game, Being Mary Jane, and more. In an era of Euphoria and other penis-happy prestige TV, the new Forever is comparatively tame. But Akil’s creation — about two Black teens in 2018 Los Angeles — makes its mark in other ways. While it encompasses all the butterflies and betrayals of first love, Forever also tells a deeper story about the challenges and heartache of raising exceptional Black kids in our fraught modern era.

Justin Edwards (Michael Cooper Jr.) and Keisha Clark (Greenleaf‘s Lovie Simone) have a meet-cute over fondue at a New Year’s Eve party thrown by Keisha’s friend Chloe (Ali Gallow). Justin and Keisha went to grade school together, and though he doesn’t remember her right away, he’s instantly smitten. Keisha, now attending a predominantly Black private school, is working toward a track scholarship at Howard University. Justin is struggling through the academic rigors of his mostly white private school, following the path his parents mapped out for him: Northwestern University, his mom’s alma mater, and with luck, a basketball scholarship. As senior year looms for both teens, a mutual infatuation starts to blossom.

Akil and her writers take their time letting Keisha and Justin’s story breathe. The first two episodes follow the teens through the stutter steps of their dance toward couplehood, as miscommunications and misunderstandings keep their fledgling relationship from getting off the ground. The pacing can feel almost too leisurely in places, especially for viewers expecting swoony-sexy teen-romance action from the outset. But over time it becomes clear that Akil and her creative team — including Regina King, who directs the first episode — are telling a story not just about how young love unfolds, but how it feels. The camera lingers on the little moments: Justin’s face lighting up when he spots Keisha in a crowd as she walks to meet him for a date; their fingers tentatively intertwining for the first time; the agonizing limbo of watching those three pulsating dots while waiting for a text back. Whether 50 years ago or today in the era of cell phones and social media, that anxiety is universal: What is my crush really thinking?

Eventually, Keisha and Justin make their relationship Instagram official. Forever doesn’t romanticize the teens’ initial attempts to consummate their relationship, and instead chooses to depict those early encounters in all their halting and awkward glory. Blume’s frank writing about teen sexuality and desire made Forever a YA classic, but sex isn’t the story engine here. On top of being hormone-addled teens blissed out with the magic of first love, Justin and Keisha are also saddled with the daunting expectations of their watchful parents, all of whom are determined to help their children excel in a world that wants to hold them back. Keisha is so terrified of disappointing her mom, Shelly (The Mindy Project‘s Xosha Roquemore) — who works nights to pay for her private school — she never told her about an embarrassing event involving her ex-boyfriend (Xavier Mills) that still haunts her.

Justin comes from an upper-class family; the Edwards live in a spacious hilltop house with a pool and spend a month every summer on Martha’s Vineyard. Still, his parents — Dawn (The Morning Show’s Karen Pittman), an executive with a self-professed “catastrophic parenting style,” and Eric (The Wire’s Wood Harris), a laid-back restaurant owner and chef — know that unlike Justin’s white peers, money doesn’t necessarily guarantee him an easy path to success. “You are a Black man in America,” Dawn warns her son. “You need to be undeniable.”

Though Forever is Keisha and Justin’s story, Akil and her writers give a considerable about of weight to the parents, especially Eric and Dawn. It seems ludicrous to write this in 2025, but the Edwards clan — a well-to-do suburban Black family — are still very much a rarity on TV, and there’s a power in the way Akil’s characters don’t just exist, they thrive. Episode 5, “The Vineyard,” centers on Justin and Keisha’s reconciliation after a fight, but the power of that reunion is rivaled by the joyful scenes of Eric, Dawn, and their family and friends enjoying a sun-drenched and intoxicating day at their sprawling summer home. Even on vacation, though, Dawn can’t stop worrying about what it will take to get Justin into Northwestern. As she laments to her brother Charlie (Rodney Hicks), “It ain’t easy getting these kids to the dream.”

Like Blume’s novel, Akil’s adaptation sets its story of a momentous first love against the backdrop of the exhilarating, pivotal, and terrifying period that is senior year of high school. But for Justin and Keisha’s parents, securing their children a spot at a good college isn’t just a routine stop on the pathway to adulthood — it’s an accomplishment born of generational sacrifice. “You are a first. Get it?” a tearful Eric tells Justin. “Your great-grandfather picked cotton.”

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Akil understands that young love isn’t just an emotional whirlwind for teenagers; it’s a profound experience for parents, too. Wood and Pittman are phenomenal; honestly, it felt like a privilege to watch them embody Eric and Dawn, characters who are complex, funny, determined, flawed, loving, and thoroughly relatable. (Netflix has classified Forever as a drama rather than a limited series, and I’d be all-in on a season 2 that follows their marriage.)

Simone is magnetic as Keisha, who is at once a responsible, driven young woman and a giddy, infatuated girl who scribbles Justin’s name down in her notebook during class. Cooper Jr. gives a star-making performance as Justin; the newcomer captures his character’s shy, oddball charm, and he brings an endearing authenticity to Justin’s growing confidence and vulnerability. Despite the heady rush of first love — and the thrill of sexual exploration — Justin and Keisha develop a deep, profound friendship, and it’s impossible not to root for them.

Anyone who’s read the book — or, you know, lived through adolescence — will not be surprised by the trajectory of Justin and Keisha’s story. As Dawn reminds her son, “Sometimes love does the hard thing.” Young love doesn’t always last, but with Forever, Akil gives us far more sweet than bitter. Grade: B+