''Forever'' is an American romantic

teen drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...

television series created by Mara Brock Akil loosely adapted from the

Judy Blume Judith Blume (née Sussman; born February 12, 1938) is an American writer of children's, young adult, and adult fiction. Blume began writing in 1959 and has published more than 26 novels. Among her best-known works are '' Are You There God? It's ...

novel of the same name. It was released on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

May 8, 2025, and was renewed for a second season on May 14.

Premise

The series is set in 2018

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

as two young athletes become each other's first love. Two families with pushy parents who are pressuring their kids into getting college athletic scholarships.

Cast and characters

* Lovie Simone as Keisha Clark * Michael Cooper Jr. as Justin Edwards *

Xosha Roquemore Xosha Roquemore ( ; born December 11, 1984) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Jo Ann in '' Precious'' and Tamra in '' The Mindy Project''. Early life and education Roquemore was born in in Los Angeles, and is named after ...

as Shelly, Keisha's mother * Marvin Lawrence Winans III as Jaden, Justin's younger brother *

Wood Harris Sherwin David "Wood" Harris (born October 17, 1969) is an American actor. He first garnered attention for his role as Motaw in the Jeff Pollack film '' Above the Rim'' (1994), prior to portraying high school football player Julius Campbell in t ...

as Eric, Justin's father * Karen Pittman as Dawn, Justin's mother *

Barry Shabaka Henley Barry Shabaka Henley (born Barry Joseph Henley; September 15, 1954) is an American character actor. Henley has appeared as a regular in a number of television series, has numerous film credits, and is a fixture in films by director Michael Mann, ...

as George, Keisha's grandfather * Ali Gallo as Chloe, Keisha's best friend *

Niles Fitch Niles Fitch (born July 12, 2001) is an American actor who began his career as a child actor. He gained prominence through his role in the NBC series ''This Is Us'' (2016–2022). He received praise for his performance in the film '' The Fallout'' ...

as Darius, Justin's best friend * Paigion Walker as Tiffany, Keisha's cousin *

Adriyan Rae Adriyan Rae is an American actress known for her role as Elida in the short-lived Syfy drama '' Vagrant Queen'' and as Gianna Mackey in the NBC drama '' Chicago Fire''. Early life and education Rae was born on October 7, 1994, in Seaford, Delaw ...

as Brittany, Keisha's cousin * E'myri Crutchfield as Tammy, Keisha's track rival * Xavier Mills as Christian Boykin, Keisha’s ex-boyfriend * Yusef Thomas as Rodney, Tiffany's partner and a music producer

Episodes

Production

In November 2022,

announced that it had commissioned a television series adaptation of the book ''Forever…'' by

, with Mara Brock Akil as showrunner and executive producer and Judy Blume, Susie Fitzgerald, Erika Harrison, Sara White,

Regina King Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971) is an American actress, director and producer. She has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, ''Time'' magazine named her o ...

, Shana C. Waterman and Anthony Hemingway also as executive producers. King directed the pilot. The cast is led by Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr and also includes Karen Pittman,

, Marvin Lawrence Winans III,

, Ali Gallo,

, Paigion Walker and E'myri Crutchfield. On January 30, 2025, first-look images from filming were released. On May 14, 2025, Netflix renewed the series for a second season.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the show's original score, composed by Gary Gunn, was released by Netflix on May 2nd, 2025. The soundtrack for the series includes music by

Migos Migos () were an American hip hop group founded in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 2008. The group was composed of rapper Quavo, his nephew Takeoff, and their "cousin" friend Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia, while Offset and Takeoff were bo ...

Anderson Paak Brandon Paak Anderson (born February 8, 1986), known professionally as Anderson .Paak ( or ), is an American R&B singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He released his debut mixtape, ''O.B.E. Vol. 1'', in 2012 and went on to releas ...

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...

, Foam Collective,

Travis Scott Jacques Bermon Webster III (born April 30, 1991), known professionally as Travis Scott (formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Scott has had five number-one hits on the U.S. ''Bil ...

SZA Solána Imani Rowe (born November 8, 1989), known professionally as SZA ( ), is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her diaristic lyrics and genre explorations, she has been credited as a prominent figure in influencing contemporary R& ...

Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe Robinson ( ; born December 1, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper and actress. She has received ten Grammy Award nominations, and is the recipient of a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Children's and Family Emmy Award. ...

Tyler, The Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has been cited as an influential figure in alternative hip-hop during the 2010s. Tyler beca ...

and

Childish Gambino Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his musical stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. While he studied at New York University and after working in Derrick ...

amongst others.

Release

The series was released on

on May 8, 2025.

Reception

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reported a 96% approval rating based on 25 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "A thoroughly modern adaptation of

's novel that retains its insight into young love, ''Forever'' is an effervescent romance that'll put an everlasting smile on viewers' faces."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which uses a weighted average, gave a score of 84 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Kristen Baldwin of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' gave the series a B+ and said, "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."

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original current series 2020s American drama television series 2025 American television series debuts American English-language television shows Netflix television dramas Television shows based on American novels Television shows set in Los Angeles Television series set in 2018