After (2019 film)
After is a 2019 romantic drama film starring Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes Tiffin. It is based on the 2014 new adult fiction novel of the same name written by Anna Todd.
The film was released in the United States on April 12, 2019, by Aviron Pictures.[3] It was a commercial success after gaining $69.7 million worldwide against a $14 million budget.[4]
Freshly graduated, Tessa Young goes to college and moves into her dorm with assistance from her mother and her high school boyfriend, Noah. She meets her roommate, Steph, and her girlfriend, Tristan. Her mother is displeased, thinking that they may be bad influences for Tessa, and demands a room change, but Tessa talks her out of it.
The next day, Tessa befriends a boy named Landon and meets Hardin Scott, a friend of Steph’s, in her bedroom after getting out of the shower. Steph invites her to come to a party with her friends, but Tessa declines. She encounters Steph again in the library and is persuaded to attend a party in a frat house.
At the party, she and Steph meet up with Zed, Molly, Jace and Hardin. During a game of Truth or Dare, it is revealed that Tessa is a virgin. Tessa is dared to ‘make out’ with Hardin, but she refuses. She calls Noah, but she ends the call frustrated and roams around the frat house. Wandering into Hardin’s bedroom, Tessa bumps into Hardin, who attempts to kiss her. In Literature class, Tessa sits beside Landon and gets into a debate with Hardin. Landon reveals that he and Hardin are going to be related as his mother is engaged to Hardin’s father.
Hardin approaches Tessa and insists they start over, inviting her to come with him to his favorite place, a lake. While they swim, Hardin tells her that they cannot just be friends and the two kiss. After, they head to a diner and encounter Molly and Zed, which infuriates Hardin. Tessa tells Hardin that she will tell Noah about them, but Hardin tells her not to as he does not date, disappointing Tessa. Noah surprises Tessa with a sudden visit and she brings him to the bonfire.
In a game of Suck and Blow, Jace purposely fails in order to kiss Tessa, causing a fight between him and Hardin. While Noah and Tessa sleep in her dorm, she leaves to check on Hardin, who has destroyed the house while drunk. She comforts Hardin and they reconcile and kiss. The next day, Tessa goes back to her dorm to check on Noah, who finds out about her relationship with Hardin and leaves heartbroken. Tessa and Hardin finally decide to date, but her mother threatens to cut her off financially if she continues the relationship.
Hardin finds a new apartment for the both of them and they both attend the wedding reception of his father and Landon’s mother. Hardin reveals that his father was a drunkard and his mother was assaulted by the men he messed with while drunk. Tessa comforts him and the two head back to their apartment to have sex. The next morning, while they are in the bathtub together, Hardin writes ‘I love you’ on Tessa’s back.
Meanwhile, Tessa is bothered with text messages Hardin has been receiving from Molly. She tries to confront him, but he dismisses her and leaves. She leaves the apartment after waiting for him and finds him at a diner with Molly, Zed, Steph, and Jace. Molly reveals Hardin’s true intentions, showing her a video from after she refused to kiss him during their last party. It’s revealed he began pursuing Tessa only as a challenge to make her fall in love with him and break up with her. Tessa, shocked and heartbroken, runs away from him. He follows her and tries to explain that it was before he knew her and that he loves her. Tessa goes 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 and eventually interviews for a program at Vance Publishing. After Literature class one afternoon, Professor Soto gives Tessa work which was done by Hardin, saying that his essay was about her. As Tessa reads it, she goes back to the lake where she and Hardin first kissed. By the time Hardin comes and sits near her, Hardin narrates his letter saying, “You once asked me who I loved the most in the world. It’s you.”
