CHARLES SORRELL, Staff Writer
This movie is based off the book “After” by Anna Todd. It is actually very close with the book in portrayal, plot and detail wise. When watching the movie, there were very mixed feelings about whether or not it was a good movie. The first thought I had while watching the movie was how it was horrible and cringy, but as the movie progressed; I noticed myself finding it enjoyable in a humorous way.
The story follows Tessa Young, a college freshman, as she gets a taste of freedom for the first time in her life. She is very adamant on her studies and being seen as perfect to her mother and high school boyfriend. When she gets to college, she meets Steph, her roommate, the complete opposite of her. Tessa tries to join in on the fun of her roommate’s lifestyle until she meets Hardin Scott, the stereotypical bad boy. Hardin is known to be very closed-off with his feelings, but he starts to pursue Tessa after she rejects him when she first meets him at a party. It is a very stereotypical rendition of bad boy meets good girl, and she thinks she can change him. The title also comes from how everything changes ‘after’ she meets him.
Although the movie’s plot line really had potential, the writing of it made it not to be as good as it could have been. Its writing was similar to “Twilight” and how most of it is so bad that it’s funny. There was barely any plot actually shown, but instead had a lot of music montages. I thought maybe it would make the plot stand out even more, but it made it even worse than if there had not been so many music montages.
There is no depth into how or what the characters are actually like, except for Tessa and slightly Hardin. The entire movie is in her perspective, but she is still a very flat character and the viewer doesn’t know much about her really. We know she loves school, lives a near perfect life and slightly resents her mother, but we never get to really see who she is. The other main character is Hardin, but there isn’t much we learn about him within the movie either. We just know he’s a stereotypical, misunderstood bad boy with a mysterious past. In the sequel, we will hopefully get to know more about these two main characters, as well as background characters.
Personally, I do not recommend this movie due to how flat the characters are, how bad the writing is and how drawn out it is, but there are many people who enjoy it. I will have to give it a 0/10 for those three main reasons.
