After, a romantic drama film directed by Jenny Gage that was released back in 12 of April, 2019 is an adaptation of Anna Todd’s famous WTTPAD novel series. The movie’s plot revolves around Tessa Young, played by Josephine Langford, who is a college freshman and is very shy in her manners but soon after she meets Hardin Scott, portrayed by Hero Fiennes Tiffin, she falls in love with him. The only downside is Hardin comes from a broken family which can potentially put a dent in their blooming relationship. The movie can be categorized under multiple genres, among them is the coming-of-age genre relating to emotional relationships. The series, no doubt had many devoted fans but the movie itself got mixed reviews due to how it portrayed toxic romance in it.
Summary
Tessa Young is really looking forward to attending college since it portrays her having freedom which she never had before. Being a good girl, her plans were already set. She wanted to excel in school and fortunately did get a loving boyfriend named Noah, played by Dylan Arnold, as well as her mother Selma Blair supporting her. She bumps into Hardin Scott and all of this changes. Hardin Scott happens to be a very arrogant British student who loves to read classic novels.
Initially, these two couldn’t see eye to eye, but when Tessa becomes intrigued by Hardin, their relationship takes a dramatic turn for the better. For the first time, Tessa is offered a life that Hardin can only describe as impulsive and makes her world full of love. However, as I mentioned before, it is not easy. All of Hardin’s emotions and defiance of being open lead to quite a few cases of manipulation and heartbreak.
The relationship reaches its breaking point when Tessa learns that Hardin was merely playing a sick game in which he gambled on losing a bet and was to convince her to fall in love with him. Feeling shattered; Tessa must find a middle ground between forgiving Hardin and walking away from their toxic relationship.
Cast & Crew
- Director: Jenny Gage
- Writers: Susan McMartin, Jenny Gage, Tamara Chestna
- Based on: After by Anna Todd
Main Cast:
- Josephine Langford as Tessa Young
- Hero Fiennes Tiffin as Hardin Scott
- Selma Blair as Carol Young (Tessa’s mother)
- Dylan Arnold as Noah (Tessa’s high school boyfriend)
- Inanna Sarkis as Molly Samuels
- Shane Paul McGhie as Landon Gibson
- Pia Mia as Tristan
Production and Cinematic Style
In short, the film came from the well-known Wattpad fanfiction authored by Ann Todd who was inspired by the One Direction band. The screenplay of the movie ‘After’ was written by Tessa young whom we present in this fiction. After gaining millions of reads online, Todd’s story was adapted into a novel which led to the film deal. The production designer is Gage best known for her documentary.
For the camera work, close up shots and soft, warm lighting were used to provide an ethereal dramatic effect more ideally suited for Tessa and Hardin’s attachment rather than the chaos of their romance. The camera pictures the turmoil of emotions more appropriately than the people’s faces. Among the artists performing on the film’s soundtrack are actors YUNGBLUD and Bea Miller they add flavoring to the emotional ups and downs of the story.
Themes and Analysis
The Gravity of First Love and the Pivotal Process of Self-Discovery:
In its very essence, After is a coming of age story where we follow Tessa as she slowly discovers herself after falling in love for the first time. Hardin represents the danger and the parts of life one is required to explore outside their comfort zone. Roughly, the love she has for him compels her to re-evaluate her ideas of romance, security and faith.
Manipulative Romance:
The portrayal of the relationship between Tessa and Hardin in After has been bashed for which includes ideas of jealousy, emotional manipulation and control. Some critics of the film state of the hardin uses his past of abuse as an excuse to inflict anger onto others. Such themes ignited a broader discussion about the portrayal of dysfunctional relationships in youth-oriented films.
The Presence of Opposites:
Tessa and Hardin’s variation and extremities of lifestyle and their way of conflict, is what draws them to one another. The ambition Tessa has, alongside her amount of innocence, perfectly complements Hardin’s rebellious side, which creates a captivating, but polarizing “good girl, bad boy” dynamic.
Marital Discourse:
A rather huge theme that encompasses After is whether feelings of love can be enough to heal deep emotional scars and to emerge from bitter experiences. With Tessa’s character, the onus is further placed on one’s ability to distinguish between a reasonable scope for forgiveness and the point at which one ought to defend one’s own sense of being.
Critical Reception
The motion picture received lukewarm reviews from the Critics, despite being loved by the Fans of the Source material. It has a 19% Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score. However, On the audience score it pleads a better case, with a whopping 70% on it.
Just as how After films deked the critics with a potential romance, it never strayed far away from the films romance tropes, and that is how it gets likened to Fifty Shades of Grey, having it origins as a fan fiction. Even though it does take a path that some even did not enjoy, the chemistry between Hero Fiennes Tiffin and Josephine Langford was appreciated as they managed to get everyone engaged in the otherwise monotonous sequence of the film.
Box Office Performance
With Many disappointed with the After saga after its weak romance plot but the box office numbers do never lie, as the movie managed to score more than 69 million with a budget of 14 million, making the After : Trilogy a huge success. Even though the film never did get warm reception from the fans, it did manage to pave the way for sequels to be made. After We Collided (2020), After We Fell (2021) and After Ever Happy (2022) were released later, finished the Rohalov love story of Tessa and Hardin.
Cultura Event
After influenced culture heavily- and especially with young adults. It became a talking point for social media users across TikTok and Twitter, with fans posting their favorite scenes from the movie and discussing its characters and the love story and its characters in detail. The series’ notoriety suggests that Megan McCafferty’s tales of adolescent romance never become irrelevant.
Moreover what After sparked was a debate on community responsibility and whether glamorization of toxic love is right graphic, and how media should crate healthy stories for children before they grow up.
Conclusion
As the earlier statement mentions The After series is undoubtedly a divisive series, with audiences recalling the horrible toxic relationship portrayed in the movie as teenagers fall in love and segue their feelings into dramatic thrown fists and vale. It’s popularity however only suggests one thing, first love, the heartbreak, deals deeply over extending the hope that romance in a film can leave, doesn’t always give a perfect rating when set aside reality expectations.
If anything like some of the audience describes After is just another tale of dysfunctional love, where youth and rancor roam outside of the box where healthy relationships flourish. To some it may be a romantic drama, others a cautionary tale, but After continues to be one of the go-to novels in a young adult category.
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