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After We Fell Review: Only Franchise Fans Will Enjoy This Lackluster Drama
The After movie series, including its latest installment After We Fell, isn't the first film franchise based on books that were originally written as fanfiction - both The Mortal Instruments and Fifty Shades of Grey beat them to it - but it does have the distinction of being originally published as fanfiction inspired by a real life person: One Direction's Harry Styles. That said, with author Anna Todd having published five books in the series and there now being three adaptations in the film franchise, it's safe to say After and its main characters Tessa Young (Josephine Langford) and Hardin Scott (Hero Fiennes-Tiffin) have plenty of fans all their own. And those fans have been rewarded by third and fourth movies in the series, with After We Fell releasing now ahead of the final movie, After Ever Happy. After We Fell is the pulpy, melodramatic and messy continuation of Tessa and Hardin's story that may appeal to diehard fans, but no one else.
After We Fell picks up following the cliffhanger ending of After We Collided, which featured a reunion between Tessa and her estranged father Richard (Atanas Srebrev). Having Richard stay with her and Hardin proves to add more trouble to their relationship, which becomes strained when it's revealed Tessa is moving to Seattle for her job at Vance Publishing. On top of that, Tessa and Hardin are still working on rebuilding their trust in each other, made more difficult when Tessa meets the nice waiter Robert (Carter Jenkins) and Hardin becomes immediately jealous. Still, Tessa moves to Seattle and Hardin must decide whether he can learn to live without her - and, if he can't, how they can move forward to build a life together.
If not already apparent from the synopsis of After We Fell, the movie doesn't really have a central plot, or even much of an emotional arc with regards to Tessa and Hardin's relationship. Things simply happen in the movie and Tessa and Hardin either fight about it or have sex (or fight about it and then have sex). While the screenplay by Sharon Soboil (Love on the Air) attempts to create a throughline, there's really none to be found, which may be a result of the adaptation process. Soboil's script seems so concerned with hitting all the plot points of Todd's book that it forgets it needs to tell its own self-contained and complete story. The result is a movie where stuff happens, but it all feels meaningless - so much so that even the melodrama loses its fun.
Doing their best to continue to carry this franchise are Langford and Fiennes-Tiffin, who do an admirable job as Tessa and Hardin with what little they're given from the script. Along with director Castille Landon (Fear of Rain), the actors pull off some steamy sex scenes that showcase their chemistry and attempt to keep the melodrama of the story grounded enough to be believable - though they're not quite successful in that. After We Fell is meant to be escapist fun, but Langford and Fiennes-Tiffin may be taking the roles too seriously in a movie that takes itself too seriously. The film has plenty of drama, but little excitement.
Ultimately, After We Fell was made for fans of the After books and movie series to the exclusion of anyone else, but it doesn't necessarily seem too concerned with giving those fans a good movie. Instead, much of the film feels like its checking off a list of scenes from the book and simply trying to fit everything into a 90-minute adaptation. While that may fulfill fans' superficial wants for After We Fell, it doesn't provide the same level of entertainment as the previous movies. The romantic tension of After We Fell is just rehashing the same emotional beats as After and After We Collided with Tessa and Hardin still having the same problems, with the story giving them no real satisfying resolution. While that will presumably be delivered in After Ever Happy, it makes After We Fell an underwhelming entry in the franchise. As a result, After We Fell may be worth a watch for truly diehard fans of Todd's characters, but those who haven't been as invested or have lost interest over time would be find skipping this installment.
After We Fell is available on digital as of October 19, 2021. The film is 98 minutes long and rated R for sexual content and language.
