''The After Party'' is an American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written and directed by Ian Edelman. The film stars Kyle Harvey, Harrison Holzer, Shelley Hennig,

Teyana Taylor Teyana Me Shay Jacqueli Shumpert ( Taylor; born December 10, 1990) is an American singer, actress, dancer and choreographer. In 2005, she signed a record deal with Pharrell Williams' Star Trak Entertainment imprint. Afterwards, she choreographe ...

, Jordan Rock,

Amin Joseph Amin Joseph (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He stars as Jerome Saint on John Singleton's crime drama '' Snowfall''. Early life Joseph was born to Antiguan parents in Queens, New York City, but was raised in Harlem, New ...

Andy Buckley Andrew P. Buckley Jr. (born February 13, 1965) is an American actor and financial analyst best known for his role as David Wallace on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' from 2006 to 2013. Early life Buckley was born in Salem, Massachusetts, ...

, and

Blair Underwood Blair Erwin Underwood (born August 25, 1964) is an American actor. He made his debut in the 1985 musical film ''Krush Groove'' and from 1987 to 1994 starred as attorney Jonathan Rollins in the NBC legal drama series ''L.A. Law''. Underwood has a ...

. The film was released on August 24, 2018, by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

to negative reviews from critics.

Plot

Aspiring rapper Owen Ellison and his manager/childhood friend Jeff Levine find Rahmel in a bathroom stall and rap to him, hoping for a record deal. The person in the bathroom stall turns out to be not Rahmel but his intern, Bernard. Jeff convinces him to get Rahmel to come to their next show in exchange for producer credit on a future album. When coming home from high school, Owen runs into Jeff's sister Alicia, who's he's been in love with for years, and invites her to his next show. Jeff also invites his father to it, who tells him he needs to focus more when he gets to

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. Owen is talking to his father backstage before going on stage to calm his nerves. When Jeff sees he tells Owen that he wishes his own father would be more supportive. They meet Bernard, an intern at Atlantic Records, who brings

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 200 ...

instead of Rahmel. They smoke weed with Wiz before Owen performs onstage. He starts performing well, but throws up on Wiz and has a

seizure An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with los ...

. The video of Owen's seizure goes viral and is called “Seezjah Boy”. Believing his chance at success in the music business is over, he decides to join the

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

. Jeff makes Owen promise that if he gets him a record deal by Friday, he won't give up and enlist. He then goes to many record labels on Wednesday, but they all say Owen is dead due to Seezjah boy. In the street, Owen's embarrassingly constantly recognised. On Thursday morning, Jeff's persistence pays off, and Jessica at Atlantic gives him an invite to have a quick word with Rahmel at the secret French Montana show that night. Jeff enlists Alicia's help to get Owen there. In the end Bernard gets them in. Alicia gets pulled on stage, later enabling them access to the After Party. Their crazy night out continues, as Owen and Jeff don't bring attractive women with them. Eventually they get three strippers to accompany them, but Jeff's dad's

Rolls Roll or Rolls may refer to: Movement about the longitudinal axis * Roll angle (or roll rotation), one of the 3 angular degrees of freedom of any stiff body (for example a vehicle), describing motion about the longitudinal axis ** Roll (aviation), ...

is damaged in the process. Getting in, they discover they need to go to the After After Party, only they arrive so late they miss both Alicia and Rahmel. Jeff and Owen argue, blaming each other for missing their chance. But Owen one-ups him with a mega dissing rap, destroyng him. A few mnutes later, Owen helps Jeff when a fight breaks out, afterwards the friends make up. Bernard gives them Rahmel's address so he has one more chance to rap for him. They go up the fire escape and get maced. Arriving home in the morning, Owen's dad warns him they're leaving momentarily, then head out. As Jeff is finally having a heart-to-heart with his dad, his phone blows up. The rap and fight went viral, and everyone wants to sign Owen. When he hears, he rethinks this decision, finding it in him to chase his dream one last time. In the closing scene, we see Owen has become a success with Jeff managing him at his side.

Cast

* Kyle Harvey as Owen Ellison, an aspiring rapper * Harrison Holzer as Jeff Levine, Owen's best friend and manager * Shelley Hennig as Alicia Levine, Jeff's older sister and Owen's love interest * Jamie Choi as Jessica, major record label executive assistant *

as Bl'Asia, a stripper who Jeff is attracted to * Jordan Rock as Bernard, Rahmel's unpaid intern *

as Leon, Bl'Asia's stalker ex *

as Mr. Levine, Jeff and Alicia's father *

as Sergeant Martin Ellison, Owen's father Several celebrities have cameo appearances, including

Dinah Jane Dinah Jane Milika Ilaisaane Hansen (; born June 22, 1997) is an American singer and a member of girl group Fifth Harmony. In October 2017, she featured in RedOne's single " Boom Boom" with Daddy Yankee and French Montana. After the group's hia ...

Charlamagne tha God Lenard Larry McKelvey (born June 29, 1978), known professionally as Charlamagne tha God or simply Charlamagne, is an American radio host and television personality. He is a co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show ''The Breakfast Club' ...

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Arabic: æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he emigrated to the United States with his family when he was 13. ...

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper. Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station WEDR, 99 Ja ...

Ski Mask the Slump God Stokeley Clevon Goulbourne (born April 18, 1996), known professionally as Ski Mask the Slump God (formerly stylized as $ki Mask "The Slump God"), is an American rapper. He initially rose to prominence alongside XXXTentacion and their collectiv ...

Desiigner Sidney Royel Selby III (born May 3, 1997), better known by his stage name Desiigner, is an American rapper and singer. In December 2015, his debut single "Panda" reached number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 2019, he was released fr ...

Pusha T Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper, songwriter and record executive. He rose to prominence as one-half of the hip hop duo Clipse, which was mainly active from 1994 to 20 ...

Jadakiss Jason Terrance Phillips (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Jadakiss, is an American rapper from Yonkers, New York. He began his career in the 1990s as a member of the rap trio The Lox, managed by Ruff Ryders and signed with Bad ...

, DMX,

Tee Grizzley Terry Sanchez Wallace Jr. (born March 23, 1994), known professionally as Tee Grizzley, is an American rapper best known for his singles " First Day Out", "No Effort", "Colors", and "From the D to the A" (featuring Lil Yachty). After being relea ...

Young M.A Katorah Kasanova Marrero (born April 3, 1992), better known by her stage name Young M.A (acronym for Young Me. Always), is an American rapper. She first gained widespread recognition with the release of the quadruple-platinum hit single " Ooouuu ...

, A Boogie wit da Hoodie,

Eddie Huang Edwyn Charles Huang (born March 1, 1982) is an American author, chef, restaurateur, food personality, producer, and former attorney. He was a co-owner of BaoHaus, a gua bao restaurant in the East Village of Lower Manhattan. Huang previously h ...

Production

In September 2017, it was announced that Ian Edelman would write and direct ''The After Party'' for

. Kyle Harvey, Harrison Holzer, Shelley Hennig,

, Jordan Rock,

, and

joined the cast of the film. Principal photography began in September 2017. Filming was scheduled to last six weeks at locations in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

including The Meadows Music & Arts Festival and the

Gramercy Theatre The Gramercy Theatre is a music venue in New York City. It is located in the Gramercy neighborhood of Manhattan, on 127 East 23rd Street. Built in 1937 as the Gramercy Park Theatre, it is owned and operated by Live Nation as one of their two co ...

Release

The film was released on August 24, 2018, for Netflix.

Reception

Critical response

''The After Party'' received largely negative reviews from critics, and holds a 0% approval rating 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 ...

based on 5 critic reviews, with an average rating of 3.90/10

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:After Party (film), The 2010s American films 2010s English-language films 2010s hip hop films 2018 films 2018 comedy films American comedy films English-language Netflix original films Films about music and musicians