By Mariah Snyder
Netflix has turned New York Times bestselling author, Anna Todd’s, After series into three movies popular among teen and young viewers. Each movie follows one book in the After series which observes a young couple in a beautiful coming of age story. So far, Netflix has produced movies for three out of five books in the series with the intention of producing the fourth film soon.
After, the first movie in the series was released in April 2019. The movie followed a young girl, Tessa Young, who had just moved into her freshman dorm. Tessa had just begun college when she met Hardin Scott, Washington Central’s known troublemaker.
Tessa is a good student with a bright future and Hardin Scott is toxic and bad news. Despite their differences, this unlikely pair fall in love and navigate their way through many obstacles thrown their way. But, after discovering heartbreaking news, Tessa must ask herself: will love be enough to forgive the unforgivable?
Viewers who had not previously read the After-series books were more likely to enjoy this movie as a contemporary young romance film from Netflix. However, After was not reviewed well by those who had read the books. Although movies cannot capture every detail of the book, this movie was very different and did not capture the true essence of the characters.
I am a fan of the books, so I was very excited to see how Netflix created a movie out of such a captivating book. However, I was entirely disappointed in the movie. Aside from the movie and the book showing many differences, this film was dissatisfying.
The characters looked the part, but the execution was underwhelming. The acting was not convincing in a way that made you connect with the characters and their love story. Actors/actresses seemed unprepared and disinterested. A movie should feel like you are watching someone’s real life, this felt like acting.
I believe that this movie was trying to fit a 500+ page book into a general movie time slot, which seemed very rushed. There were many scenes that seemed pointless which then caused confusion during the movie. There appeared to be a beginning and an end, but the middle was lost. I would have preferred more character development than trying to fit all the scenes from the book into one movie.
The movie After might be a mediocre movie to play if you are in the mood for a typical Netflix romance. However, I would not recommend this movie for someone who is drawn to romance movies with a captivating plot and moving character development. For anyone interested in following Tessa and Hardin’s journey, I strongly recommend reading the After books by Anna Todd.