Shailene Woodley & Joe Alwyn Star In Netflix’s New Summer Romance

As our list of Things We Can Look Forward To finally starts to grow again, Jojo Moyes, the acclaimed author of Me Before You, has a new summer romance novel turned film to add to the tally: The Last Letter From Your Lover.

Based on Moyes' best-selling novel of the same name, the upcoming Netflix film is a dual-narrative love story. Oscar-nominee Felicity Jones plays Ellie, a journalist in present day London who finds a series of love letters that detail a star-crossed affair in the 1960s French Riviera between Jennifer Stirling (Shailene Woodley) and Anthony O’Hare (Callum Turner). "You witness a woman's journey in how she chooses to live her life," Woodley told EW of her character back in January. "You recognize the struggles that come with being a woman, specifically in that time era, making decisions for herself and choosing a path that perhaps isn't the most well-worn, yet is the most fulfilling. There aren't a lot of stories about women who do make decisions for themselves even though there are serious consequences and repercussions." Jennifer and Anthony's story is so gripping and romantic that Ellie is determined to track down the couple and, with the help a newspaper archivist played by Nabhaan Rizwan, she seeks to find out how their love story ended. Joe Alwyn also stars in the film as Jennifer's husband, the unfeeling, cold Laurence Stirling.

"Joe is such a naturally kind and warm and welcoming human being," Woodley told EW of Alwyn. "I always like when casting surprises me a little bit and puts actors in roles that you wouldn't necessarily assume they would fill." 

News that The Last Letter From Your Lover would be adapted for Netflix dropped in October 2020, and now we finally have our first taste of what the film has in store. Judging by the photos, it has all the ingredients of a dreamy, transportive romance: bike rides in sun dresses, people holding each other in cozy coats, and intense rain-soaked stares.

And according to Woodley, the palpable chemistry between the characters in the film is no joke. "Working with both Joe and Calum [Turner] was incredible," she said. "The beautiful thing about what we do is when you have those rare moments in time where you have natural kinetic energy with someone. There's not a whole lot for you to have to do as an actor, because you can lean and rely heavily on whatever electricity is happening between the two of you. I felt like that with both of them. I was very, very fortunate to settle into the natural energy that existed and then let the characters unfold within the essence of that."

The film will be released on a rollout basis in a few territories, but will be hitting the U.S. on July 23.