After: Fan-fiction Turned Trainwreck

If you’re going to watch After with the hopes of seeing a sappy romantic film, go with low expectations. On the other hand, if you’re hoping to see a perplexingly comedic movie with hints of horror film humor,

Slash Film

this is the perfect movie for you. After is a 2019 drama/thriller film based on a Wattpad fanfiction about a college girl named Tessa Young and her potential love interest, Hardin Scott. If the fact that it was based on fanfiction isn’t enough to make you cringe, the fanfiction originally starred Harry Styles as the main male character and became wildly popular in the One Direction fandom. The movie starts off with Tessa explaining the title by saying her life was split into two parts, before and after she met Hardin, the Harry Styles-esque male lead. By this point, a few people in the theater typically walk away laughing, less than five minutes into the movie, but those who stay are rewarded with the most cringe-worthy movie known to man which critics are describing as “lifeless slog of thinly written clichés” (Caroline Siede- Rotten Tomatoes approved critic). Exactly what you would expect from a One Direction fanfiction but a sad letdown to those who were looking for something refreshing in the light of so many overdone storylines. After is the kind of movie that makes Twilight look like a cinematic masterpiece and keeps you wishing for a little bit more action and excitement beyond the predictable love story plot twists. The moments of lust between the main characters come off as fillers in place of adding actual depth to the movie and Hardin Scott comes across as bad influence mystery man who’s actions at some points seems almost to the point of being creepy. Romantic scenes were cheesy and generic and a way that had the audience in stitches instead of tears proving the nonsensical label of a romantic film on this stereotypical movie. So if you’re looking for a comedy and willing to pay 10+ dollars to spend two hours laughing and cringing, After is the perfect date night/girls night out movie.