After (2019 film)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''After'' is a 2019 American
romantic drama Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...
film directed by Jenny Gage and written by Gage, Susan McMartin and Tamara Chestna, based on the 2014 novel of the same name by
Anna Todd Anna Renee Todd (born March 20, 1989) is an American author and screenwriter, who is best known for her ''After (Todd novel), After'' series. She started publishing on the social storytelling platform Wattpad. The print edition of the series was ...
. The film stars
Josephine Langford Josephine Langford (born 18 August 1997) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her starring role as Tessa Young in the ''After'' film series. She also portrayed Emma Cunningham in the Netflix film ''Moxie'' while also portraying Zoey i ...
and
Hero Fiennes Tiffin Hero Beauregard Faulkner Fiennes Tiffin (born 6 November 1997) is an English actor, model and film producer. He is known for his starring role as Hardin Scott in the ''After'' film series. He portrayed 11-year-old Tom Riddle, the young versio ...
and follows an inexperienced teenage girl who begins to romance a mysterious student during her first months of college. The cast includes
Selma Blair Selma Blair Beitner (born June 23, 1972) is an American actress. She played a number of roles in films and on television before obtaining recognition for her leading role in the film '' Brown's Requiem'' (1998). Her breakthrough came when she s ...
,
Inanna Sarkis Inanna Sarkis is a Canadian actress of Bulgarian and Assyrian descent. Early life and career Sarkis was born in Hamilton, Ontario, the daughter of a Syrian father who was a dentist and a Bulgarian mother who used to be a surgeon in Bulgaria. ...
,
Shane Paul McGhie Shane Paul McGhie (born November 26, 1993) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his role as Deputy Joseph Harris in Entertainment One's crime drama television series '' Deputy''. Life and career McGhie was born in Los A ...
,
Pia Mia Pia Mia Perez (born September 19, 1996) is an American singer, songwriter, and model. She began her career by posting videos of herself singing on the video sharing site YouTube, and went on to star in commercials and music videos. Pia Mia sign ...
, Khadijha Red Thunder,
Dylan Arnold Dylan Arnold (born February 11, 1994) is an American actor. He is known for playing Noah in the romantic drama ''After'' (2019), and its sequel '' After We Collided'' (2020), Cameron Elam in '' Halloween'' (2018), and its sequel, ''Halloween Ki ...
,
Samuel Larsen Samuel Peter Acosta Larsen (born August 28, 1991) is an American actor and singer. On August 21, 2011, Larsen won the reality competition program '' The Glee Project'' on the Oxygen network, which led to his having a recurring role as Joe Hart on ...
,
Jennifer Beals Jennifer Beals (born December 19, 1963) is an American actress and former teen model. She made her film debut in ''My Bodyguard'' (1980), before receiving critical acclaim for her role in ''Flashdance'' (1983), for which she won NAACP Image Awa ...
and
Peter Gallagher Peter Killian Gallagher (born August 19, 1955) is an American actor. Since 1980, he has played roles in numerous Hollywood films. He is best known for starring as Sandy Cohen in the television drama series ''The O.C.'' from 2003 to 2007, recurr ...
in supporting roles. ''After'' premiered at The Grove in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
on April 8, 2019. Despite largely negative reviews from critics, who felt its screenplay and narrative glamourized abusive relationships, it was a commercial success, grossing $69.5 million worldwide against its $14 million budget. The film launched the ''After'' film series.


Plot

Tessa Young begins her
freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...
year of college by moving into her dorm room with the help of her mother, Carol, and her boyfriend, Noah. During this process she meets her new roommate Steph and Steph's girlfriend Tristan. The day after, Tessa shares a brief encounter with Steph's friend, Hardin Scott. The following day Steph persuades Tessa to attend a party where she meets Steph's other friends: Zed, Molly, and Jace, and meets Hardin for the second time. The group play truth or dare, which reveals Tessa's virginity; she is dared to kiss Hardin but refuses. Later on at the party Hardin attempts to kiss Tessa, but she rejects his advances and leaves. The following day Tessa meets with Landon, a classmate she met on her first day of classes, who reveals to her that he and Hardin are soon to become stepbrothers, with his mother engaged to Hardin's father. Following a class debate Hardin again approaches Tessa and insists they start over, inviting her to a nearby lake. While they swim, Hardin kisses Tessa, saying that they cannot remain only friends. Later, the two encounter Molly and Zed at a diner, following which Tessa promises to tell her boyfriend about the kiss she shared with Hardin. Hardin tells her not to do so, saying that he does not date, disappointing Tessa. Noah surprises Tessa with a visit, and the two experience an evening together around a bonfire. In a game of 'suck and blow' at the bonfire party, Jace purposely fails in order to kiss Tessa, making Hardin jealous and leading to a physical confrontation. While Noah sleeps in Tessa's bed after the party, she leaves to check in on Hardin, who has destroyed the house in a drunken rage. She comforts him and the two kiss. The next day Tessa returns to her dorm to check on Noah, who discovers her affair with Hardin and leaves her, heartbroken. Tessa and Hardin finally decide to date, but her mother threatens to cut her off financially if she continues the relationship, believing Hardin to be a bad influence. Hardin finds an apartment for the two to live together and they attend his father's wedding reception. Hardin reveals that his father was a drunk and that his mother was assaulted by some men his father provoked while drunk. Tessa comforts him and the two head back to their apartment to have sex (Tessa loses her virginity). Later, Tessa grows concerned about the text messages sent to Hardin by Molly; Tessa attempts to confront him, but he dismisses her and leaves. After leaving the apartment searching for him, Tessa finds him at a diner with Molly, Zed, Steph, and Jace. Molly cruelly reveals Hardin's true intentions by showing Tessa a video from the first party they attended, telling that Hardin only pursued Tessa as a challenge, intending to make her fall in love with him before breaking her heart. Hardin attempts to convince Tessa that his intentions changed as he got to know her, but Tessa ends their relationship. Heartbroken Tessa returns home to reconcile with her mother and Noah, who both forgive her. In the weeks that follow, Tessa cuts ties with Steph and her group of friends, eventually interviewing for an internship at Vance Publishing. Before she leaves college at the end of the semester, Tessa's lecturer hands her an essay written by Hardin, in which he confesses his love for Tessa; after reading it, Tessa returns to the lake to meet Hardin.


Cast


Production


Development

In 2013, author Anna Todd posted the first chapters of a fanfiction titled ''After'' on fanfiction- and fiction-publishing website Wattpad. The fanfiction's original storyline was based on the boyband
One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gr ...
, and featured the band's members
Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor''. Following hi ...
,
Liam Payne Liam James Payne (born 29 August 1993) is an English singer. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Payne made his debut as a singer in 2008 when he auditioned for the British television series ''The X Factor''. After being ...
, Niall Horan,
Louis Tomlinson Louis William Tomlinson (; born Louis Troy Austin; 24 December 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Tomlinson began his career appearing in television dramas before he auditioned ...
and
Zayn Malik Zain Javadd Malik ( ; born 12 January 1993), known mononymously as Zayn, is an English pop and R&B singer. Zayn auditioned as a solo contestant for the British music competition television series ''The X Factor'' in 2010. After being eliminate ...
, portrayed as students at
Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...
. The story followed Tessa Young, an "innocent good girl" who becomes involved in a relationship with "bad boy" Styles. Within a month of publishing the first chapters, the story had acquired 544 million reads; Todd later landed a deal with
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...
to publish novelizations of the series, with the lead male character's name changed to Hardin Scott; the novels were subsequently released in 2014. The books gained media attention and became ''New York Times'' bestsellers. In 2014, Paramount Pictures acquired the rights to adapt ''After'' for film; before the expiry of the company's rights to the film production in mid-2017, the project was headed by screenwriter Susan McMartin. Following this, CalMaple Media and Offspring Entertainment acquired the filming rights, with writer Tamara Chestna hired to rework McMartin's script, and director Jenny Gage overseeing the script's final revisions. McMartin, Chestna, and Gage all received final script credit. CalMaple Media's
Mark Canton Mark Canton (born June 19, 1949) is an American film producer and executive. Life and early career Canton was born to a Jewish family in Queens, New York, the son of Shirley and Arthur Canton, who worked in the film industry on marketing and pub ...
and
Courtney Solomon Courtney Solomon (born September 1,1970) is a writer, director, producer, and entrepreneur from Toronto, Ontario. He has been involved with production, marketing and distribution of over 80 movies. Life and career At 19, he formed Sweetpea Ente ...
, Offspring Entertainment's Jennifer Gibgot, Wattpad's Aron Levitz,
Meadow Williams Melanie Kay "Meadow" Williams (born February 10, 1966) is an American actress and producer. She began her career appearing in small roles in films including ''Beverly Hills Cop III'' (1994), '' The Mask'' (1994) and '' Apollo 13'' (1995). In the ...
of Diamond Film Productions and Dennis Pelino were all credited as producers on the film, alongside Todd herself. The film was financed by CalMaple,
Voltage Pictures Voltage Pictures is an American film production and distribution company founded by Nicolas Chartier in 2005. It has assembled over 180 motion pictures, earning the company a total of two Golden Globe Awards and nine Academy Awards. Recent fi ...
and Diamond Film Productions, with executive production by Swen Temmel, Nicolas Charier, Jonathan Deckter, David Dinerstein, Jason Resnick, Scott Karol, Ian Brereton, Eric Lehrman,
Adam Shankman Adam Michael Shankman (born November 27, 1964) is an American film director, producer, writer, dancer, author, actor, and choreographer. He was a permanent judge on season 6–7 of the television program ''So You Think You Can Dance''. He began h ...
, Brian Pitt and Vassal Benford.
Aviron Pictures Aviron Pictures was an American film production and distribution company founded by William Sadleir, founder of Clarius Entertainment (which, as the company went inactive shortly after his departure, Aviron can be considered a successor of) and ...
distributed the film domestically, with Voltage Pictures handling foreign distribution.


Casting

On May 8, 2018,
Julia Goldani Telles Julia Goldani Telles (born March 18, 1995) is an American actress and ballet dancer. She is known for playing Sasha Torres on the short-lived ABC Family series ''Bunheads'', Iris in the third season of '' The Girlfriend Experience'' and for he ...
and
Hero Fiennes Tiffin Hero Beauregard Faulkner Fiennes Tiffin (born 6 November 1997) is an English actor, model and film producer. He is known for his starring role as Hardin Scott in the ''After'' film series. He portrayed 11-year-old Tom Riddle, the young versio ...
were cast in the main roles of Tessa Young and Hardin Scott respectively. The actors were selected by the production team, including Todd herself, who was present at the castings and contributed to the casting decisions. In July 2018, Telles announced her exit from the film due to scheduling conflicts. In the same month,
Josephine Langford Josephine Langford (born 18 August 1997) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her starring role as Tessa Young in the ''After'' film series. She also portrayed Emma Cunningham in the Netflix film ''Moxie'' while also portraying Zoey i ...
was announced to play Tessa Young. Todd would later state that once she saw Langford, she "knew right away that was Tessa."
Pia Mia Pia Mia Perez (born September 19, 1996) is an American singer, songwriter, and model. She began her career by posting videos of herself singing on the video sharing site YouTube, and went on to star in commercials and music videos. Pia Mia sign ...
was cast in the role of Tristan, a previously male character in the books. Executive producer Swen Temmel was cast as Jace,
Shane Paul McGhie Shane Paul McGhie (born November 26, 1993) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his role as Deputy Joseph Harris in Entertainment One's crime drama television series '' Deputy''. Life and career McGhie was born in Los A ...
and Khadijha Red Thunder were added as Landon Gibson and Steph Jones respectively,
Samuel Larsen Samuel Peter Acosta Larsen (born August 28, 1991) is an American actor and singer. On August 21, 2011, Larsen won the reality competition program '' The Glee Project'' on the Oxygen network, which led to his having a recurring role as Joe Hart on ...
was set as Zed Evans, and
Inanna Sarkis Inanna Sarkis is a Canadian actress of Bulgarian and Assyrian descent. Early life and career Sarkis was born in Hamilton, Ontario, the daughter of a Syrian father who was a dentist and a Bulgarian mother who used to be a surgeon in Bulgaria. ...
played Molly Samuels. Producer
Meadow Williams Melanie Kay "Meadow" Williams (born February 10, 1966) is an American actress and producer. She began her career appearing in small roles in films including ''Beverly Hills Cop III'' (1994), '' The Mask'' (1994) and '' Apollo 13'' (1995). In the ...
was additionally cast as Professor Soto, another previously male character in the books. On July 27,
Peter Gallagher Peter Killian Gallagher (born August 19, 1955) is an American actor. Since 1980, he has played roles in numerous Hollywood films. He is best known for starring as Sandy Cohen in the television drama series ''The O.C.'' from 2003 to 2007, recurr ...
and
Jennifer Beals Jennifer Beals (born December 19, 1963) is an American actress and former teen model. She made her film debut in ''My Bodyguard'' (1980), before receiving critical acclaim for her role in ''Flashdance'' (1983), for which she won NAACP Image Awa ...
were announced to play Ken Scott and Karen Gibson, Hardin's father and Landon's mother, respectively, with
Selma Blair Selma Blair Beitner (born June 23, 1972) is an American actress. She played a number of roles in films and on television before obtaining recognition for her leading role in the film '' Brown's Requiem'' (1998). Her breakthrough came when she s ...
announced for Carol Young, Tessa's mother, and
Dylan Arnold Dylan Arnold (born February 11, 1994) is an American actor. He is known for playing Noah in the romantic drama ''After'' (2019), and its sequel '' After We Collided'' (2020), Cameron Elam in '' Halloween'' (2018), and its sequel, ''Halloween Ki ...
announced for Noah Porter on July 30.


Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
was due to begin in June 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. In early July, producer Jennifer Gibgot stated that shooting would begin on July 16, 2018, in Atlanta, Georgia shortly after Langford had been cast as Tessa. Principal photography was mainly conducted at
Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...
, and production was completed on August 24 of the same year.


Release

''After'' premiered at The Grove in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
on April 8, 2019, and was released in the United States on April 12, 2019, by
Aviron Pictures Aviron Pictures was an American film production and distribution company founded by William Sadleir, founder of Clarius Entertainment (which, as the company went inactive shortly after his departure, Aviron can be considered a successor of) and ...
. The film was released in Latin America on April 10, 2019, by Diamond Films, ahead of its North American release.


Box office

''After'' grossed $12.1 million in the United States and Canada and $57.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $69.7 million against a production budget of $14 million. In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside ''
Hellboy Hellboy is a fictional superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in ''San Diego Comic-Con Comics'' #2 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers ...
'', ''
Little Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
'' and '' Missing Link'', and was projected to gross $3–12 million from 2,138 theaters in its opening weekend. The film earned $2.9 million on its first day, including $550,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $6 million, finishing eighth at the box office. In its second weekend, the film dropped 58% to $2.5 million, finishing 11th.


Critical response

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "Tepid and tired, ''After''s fun flourishes are let down by its generic story." The film has a
weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
of 30 out of 100 on
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, based on eight critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews." Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while those at
PostTrak PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios. History The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film ...
gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars. Critics found the screenplay at fault, with
Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for ''Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...
of ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' writing that ''After'' was an "innocuous teen pulp soap opera that flirts with 'danger' but, in fact, keeps surprising you with how mild and safe and predictable it turns out to be." John Fink of ''The Film Stage'' echoed this sentiment, commenting that "the talented cast is burdened by a dead on arrival screenplay that waters down what could have been an intoxicating tale of first love," though he noted the film was "beautifully shot" and "occasionally aesthetically pleasing."


Accolades

''After'' won the 2019
Teen Choice Award The Teen Choice Awards is an annual awards show that airs on the Fox television network. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, film, sports, television, fashion, social media, and more, voted by viewers living in the United S ...
in the category Choice Drama Movie and the 2019 E! People's Choice Award in the category The Drama Movie of 2019.


Sequels

In May 2019, a
sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
was announced, with both Langford and Fiennes Tiffin returning to their respective roles. '' After We Collided'' released September 2, 2020, with costars
Dylan Sprouse Dylan Thomas Sprouse (born August 4, 1992) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Zack Martin on the Disney Channel series ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' and its spin-off, ''The Suite Life on Deck'', where he starred along ...
, Charlie Weber,
Rob Estes Robert Estes (born July 22, 1963) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Harry Wilson on the teen drama series '' 90210'', as Sgt. Chris Lorenzo on the crime drama series '' Silk Stalkings'', and as Kyle McBride on the primetime soap ...
,
Louise Lombard Louise Lombard (born Louise Marie Perkins; 13 September 1970) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Evangeline Eliott in the BBC drama series '' The House of Eliott'' (1991–94) and Sofia Curtis in the CBS drama series ''CSI: ...
, Candice King, Karimah Westbrook and Max Ragone. A second sequel, ''
After We Fell ''After We Fell'' is a 2021 American romantic drama film directed by Castille Landon, from a screenplay by Sharon Soboil. Based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Anna Todd, it serves as a sequel to ''After We Collided'' (2020), and is the th ...
'', released September 1, 2021. A third sequel, ''
After Ever Happy ''After Ever Happy'' (in some countries released as ''After Ever After'' or ''After Forever'') is a 2022 American romantic drama film directed by Castille Landon, from a screenplay by Sharon Soboil. Based on the 2015 novel of the same name by A ...
'', has been completed and was released on September 7, 2022. Another sequel and prequel are in development. On August 24, 2022, it was announced that a fourth sequel titled ''After Everything'' has finished filming. Langford and Fiennes Tiffin are both set to reprise their roles. The fifth and final installment in the ''After'' film series, it will be the only film to not be based on a book in the series.


References


External links

* {{After series 2019 films 2019 romantic drama films American romantic drama films Emory University Films about abuse Films based on American novels Films based on romance novels Films based on young adult literature Films scored by Justin Burnett Films set in universities and colleges Films shot in Atlanta Voltage Pictures films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films