By Samiksha Mehta – Entertainment Editor

This – although typical romance movie – is so good viewers wouldn’t want to miss it.

[WARNING: Review of this movie comes with spoilers. You have been warned.]

“After” came to Netflix on October 9, starring Josephine Langford as Tessa Young and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin as Hardin Scott, the two main characters. “After” is a movie based on college romance, and the ups and downs that come with it. Tessa Young is a freshman in college who thinks she has her whole life sorted out. She has the perfect boyfriend, her mother is supportive, and she feels like she knows what she wants to do. She meets her dorm mate Steph, who can be a little rowdy, but that’s not a bad thing. She goes to a party, and there she meets Hardin Scott, the sophomore who’s bad news. Hardin hangs out with the “rebel group”; Molly, Tristan, Zed, and Steph. Molly doesn’t like how Tessa is, because of how “good” she is and how “innocent” she is. Tessa doesn’t like Molly because of how rude she is and how “blatant” she is. 

After the party, Tessa finds herself attracted to Hardin, the mysterious bad boy who has an affinity for classic books but doesn’t seem like the reader type. She neglects talking to her mother and boyfriend back home as she hangs out with Steph and Hardin more. She finds herself cheating on Noah (her boyfriend) with Hardin, and Noah catches her when he comes by for a surprise visit and she comes out wearing Hardin’s t-shirt. No matter what she tries to do to fix their relationship, Noah breaks up with her and tells her mom what she did. The next day, Noah tells Tessa that her mother doesn’t approve, which Tessa doesn’t like because she should be able to do whatever she wants as long as she’s responsible now. She finds herself hanging out and becoming closer with Hardin more often and she eventually becomes his girlfriend. 

He shows her his secret spot in the woods and they spend time there talking and whatnot, and when they get home, she gets ready for yet another hangout with Steph. While she’s getting ready, she gets a surprise visit from Molly, who doesn’t like her because of Tessa being with Hardin. Molly tells Tessa that Hardin has kept a secret from her for the whole duration of their relationship which Tessa doesn’t believe at first. She believes that Hardin’s told her everything and their relationship is good. However, Molly brings her to the local hangout and sits her down with their group of friends, where Hardin also seems to be. Tessa confronts him about something he hasn’t told her and he denies her accusations. Molly doesn’t seem to like that, so she shows Tessa a video of Hardin accepting a bet that he’d get her to fall in love with him and then leave her, because he doesn’t believe in love. Tessa gets heartbroken and leaves him, saying how she loves him and thought he loved her too. Despite how much he tries to get her to believe that it was a bet at first but he didn’t realize he was in love with her, she leaves him and that’s when the movie ends. 

A strong point in “After” is when Molly tells Tessa that her and Hardin’s relationship was a bet. This was a strong point because it shows how real Molly is being and it relates to many stories where there’s always a jealous girl who wants to get rid of her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend. This also shows how real the movie is and how there’s always a plot twist in these types of movies. Viewers can almost the waves of jealousy flowing off of Molly when she tells Tessa that Hardin won a bet. 

A weak point in “After” is when Hardin takes her to his special spot. Although he and her talk alot and even wade in the lake, the tension and feel of the actual relationship doesn’t feel like it’s really there. They only spend time kissing and talking about meaningless things, especially since they’re a new couple. Since they’re a new couple, viewers expect them to talk about what it means and how to proceed. The lake scene was just a little confusing for me because there wasn’t anything explaining what they did and they didn’t really talk all that much, they just swam and kissed. 

“After” is definitely not the typical “high-school romance” movie, because of the plot twists and the characters’ diversity, which gives a little more in-depth reasoning to what they do and how they do what they do. This movie is definitely worth watching (especially before the sequel comes out next year!)

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars