After: movie review

Performance of main characters adds to a basic, cliche romance

After%3A+movie+review

Taylir Charest, JAG editor in chief

Purchasing a ticket to see After, the much talked about movie among teenage girls, I expected to see a basic chick flick. My expectations weren’t wrong, but I am a sucker for a good teen romance movie. The movie is centered around Tessa, a new and dedicated college student, who begins to fall for the “bad boy,” Hardin, on campus. Hardin is funny, into literature and both off them start flirting from the beginning. Even though Tessa has a boyfriend back home who is still in high school, Tessa finds herself wanting more and begins to fall for Hardin. Eventually, her boyfriend finds out she has been cheating, but it only brings Tessa closer to Hardin.

There is so much good in the movie between Hardin and Tessa I was beginning to wonder if a real, detrimental problem was going to arise. Sure they would have little arguments or some of their “daddy issues” would get in the way, but they were in love. Although what once seemed so good, began to fall apart because of some drama-hungry friends.

I walked out of the movie with a sense of unfulfillment and found myself wanting more because the movie ended on a cliffhanger. If there’s anything I don’t want in a movie, it’s a cliffhanger. I didn’t know whether to cry or be angry at the end of the movie, but my friend and I were experiencing the same distress. On the other hand, some of my other friends thought it was more cringy and basic, but what else were they expecting?

The movie is based on a series of novels by Anna Todd, which started on Wattpad. I haven’t read them before, and I don’t think I will just because I fell in love with the characters in the movie. Hardin and Tessa had really good chemistry, but the other actors could’ve been better. The movie was really fast-paced and with more development of the characters, it might have enhanced the movie. I did enjoy the music in this movie, even though it seemed like there was a lot, the music selection definitely added and related to each scene it was featured in. Overall, I would see this movie again and recommend it to anyone who likes a good teen romance movie.

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