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'After' (The Movie) - A Quick Review

Did they even read the books?

By Stephanie DubePublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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Picture taken on the IMDB website. I do not own this picture.

I wanna start by saying that I am not a film critic, but only a simple reader. I won't tell you about the camera shots and angles, but about the story, the book-to-movie adaptation…

I have read the book three times (the whole series actually). My first time was on Wattpad when it blew up in the fanfiction community. I then bought the printed version because I loved the story so damn much. And then I reread it again before going to watch the movie. And while I was watching the movie, one question kept popping into my mind… Did they even read the books?!

If you know about After, you know it's basically Tessa and Hardin's love story. But in the books, it's so much more than that. You get glimpses of alcohol abuse, PTSD, abusive relationships... even something as simple as a career goal. And none of that was in the movie.

In the books, you learn about Hardin's past, which gets completely discarded in the movie. His relationship with his dad is a complete blur. The reason why he's so adamant on not drinking alcohol is almost a complete mystery... In the books, he has repetitive nightmares, which never actually made it in the movies. The moment he tells his big secret to Tessa, in the books, was intimate, calm... In the movie, he just blurts it out during his father's wedding. Hardin's character was supposed to have a depth, a story... He was supposed to always be gloomy and mad, which was not portrayed in the movie. The essence of his character was put aside, to make space for a more PG13 character.

Tessa's ambition to become a writer isn't shown, either. They made her indecisive and blank. She doesn't have any ounce of the personality she has in the books. She's just there to be Hardin's love interest and she is barely counted as a person herself. You don't see her trying her hardest to reach her goals, you don't see her torn between decisions, you barely see anything that is related to her because they wanted to put the focus on hers and Hardin's relationship. You don't even get to see her relationship with herself, because that's not what the wanted to focus on.

Most of the movie follows the sequence from the book, but a lot of them, important to the story, aren't even seen or heard of. I do understand that you can't put everything in a book in a movie, but some things need to be there in order for the movie to make sense. This movie, though, was just a complete mess. Scenes that didn't even exist in the book made an appearance and some scenes were just mixed up together in order to make the movie go forward.

What I feel like is the most astounding part is: the author was actually on set with them? Like... she had her say in this... and she let it happen. At no point whatsoever did she take a moment and think: "This isn't how I wrote this?"

The book actually talked and exposed real-life situations and problems. Self-esteem, trust, heartbreak... And all of that was watered-down to suit an even younger audience than the book was meant for. And I personally think that was the major problem. They had to censure so much from the book that it lost all its essence and content.

All in all, if you've read the books, I do not recommend you go see the movie. You'll be absolutely disappointed...

I suggest you stick to the books, because that is where you'll have everything you need for a good story.

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About the Creator

Stephanie Dube

A 29 years old Montrealer, lover of books, beauty, travel and video games.

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