From the beginning of cinematic history, chick flicks about friendship, families, and the pursuit of romance have plagued movie theaters in a blurry hurricane of nail polish, sleepovers, and tears. It is not often that one sticks out from the crowd, and it is definitely safe to say that The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 is not the first film to follow the stories of four women bonded together by a love of clothes – or, in this case, one particular item of clothing. However, this tale – along with the likes of Steel Magnolias, Now and Then, and, for our male counterparts, Stand By Me – stands above the rest with the help of its tenderness, wit, and originality.

The film follows the lives of four childhood best friends – each with her own unique personality, set of baggage, and physique – who discovered a magical pair of Levi’s that fits each and every one of them perfectly. In the first film, after discovering the Pants, the four friends realized that they would be spending the summer apart for the first time. While grasping for a means to stay connected while far apart from one another, the four girls made a pact – to share the Pants equally, mailing them back and forth between each girls’ location. A manifesto was soon drawn up, complete with silly rules (“No picking your nose while wearing the Pants,”) and meaningful traditions (“At the end of the summer, each sister will pinpoint the most exciting thing that happened to her while wearing the Pants, and they will document it on the Pants themselves.”)

In this installment of the Sisterhood saga, the movie picks up 3 years after the first film. the girls are in college and exploring new opportunities, experiences, and – of course – boys. Bridget (Blake Lively, Gossip Girl), still coping with the loss of her mother, spends the summer on an archeological excavation in Turkey digging up the past – hers and others’. Carmen (America Ferrera, Ugly Betty), not quite adapted to college life at Yale without her three besties, tags along with a new college friend to a prestigious drama camp in Vermont where she plans on helping backstage…but the stage’s leading man has bigger plans for her theatre experience. Lena (Alexis Bledel, Gilmore Girls), is immersing herself in a figure drawing class at the Rhode Island School of Design where she shyly discovers that her new crush Leo (Jesse Williams) is the model – and Kostos (Michael Rady), her first love from two summers ago, reenters her life with a shocking confession. As for Tibby (Amber Tamblyn, Joan of Arcadia), the punky NYU film student snags a summer job at a local video store while severe complications and Tibby’s personal demons threaten her relationship with Brian (Leonardo Nam).

Surprisingly, the Traveling Pants themselves play a significantly smaller role than what would be expected. While the Pants continue to empower their owners with gumption they would not possess on their own, they tend to pop up just when you’ve forgotten about them – perhaps symbolically. Throughout their summer apart, the pals begin to rely on others and, sometimes, solely themselves to deal with their problems – acts that threaten to break the seemingly iron-strong ties of the Sisterhood’s bond. In a surprise twist toward the end, the once absent Pants find yet another way to bring the sisterhood together – this time on a trip to Lena’s grandparents’ house in Greece on the beautiful island of Santorini.

While the sequel in this series dives much deeper into some taboo issues – unplanned pregnancy, suicide, and self-doubt – than the first film, its doing so results in a film much more gripping and memorable. The Sisterhood is a great film to see with your best friend on a Girls’ Night – but it’s not as likely to water the eyes of your boyfriend or little brother as it is to make them slump in their seat and frequent the concession stand for more popcorn. There’s no doubt – the Sisterhood is a chick flick…but one for the ages.