After We Collided | Film Review

 

I reviewed the first 'After' movie when it premiered on Netflix UK back in 2019. I was familiar with the original 'After' story, so I wanted to see how the film turned out. It wasn't a great film, but I did enjoy it. Here we have the sequel to Tessa and Hardin's story, which came out last year on Amazon Prime Video.

After being apart for a month, Tessa (Josephine Langford) and Hardin (Hero Fiennes-Tiffin) are trying to move on from their break-up. But the couple quickly find themselves drawn to each other all over again. As their relationship becomes more complicated than ever, with everything standing in their way, can Tessa and Hardin find their way back to each other?

So, as I said, I didn't think the first film was great, but I did enjoy it. This film, as well as not being that great, also wasn't that enjoyable. It was an easy watch, and it was interesting to see the next stage in Tessa and Hardin's relationship, but the film doesn't do much more than that.

First of all, the storyline with Tessa's internship felt really unrealistic. At first I thought it was unrealistic because it was amazing opportunity for Tessa to get less than a month out of college. But then I remembered that, as far as I'm aware, Tessa has only completed a year of college, if that. So is it a summer internship? Will she be finishing her degree? Either way, I found this timeline very confusing.

Now, as with the first film, you can't deny that that there is definite chemistry between Tessa and Hardin, and the actors who play them. But this undeniable chemistry isn't enough to make the audience root for these characters. It feels more like they are in lust than in love.

Speaking of the characters, there are a few major differences between the first and second 'After' movie. And for me the biggest change was the character of Tessa. Tessa's personality has completely changed, to the point where this could be a completely different character.

I made the comment in my 'After' review that no one involved in the film knew who the character of Tessa was, and unfortunately that's still true. No one knows who she is, and as a result, the audience don't know her either.

And then there are the characters that were introduced in the first film. We see most of them, but they are no longer characters - they have become 2 dimensional objects, with the purpose of either furthering Tessa and Hardin's relationship (either positively or negatively) or being glorified extras. It was disappointing, particularly for characters like Steph (Khadijha Red Thunder) and Landon (Shane Paul McGhie), who could have been interesting in their own right.

There is so much about this film that feels comical, so you find yourself watching the whole film without taking anything seriously, especially the characters. They act so much younger than they're supposed to be, that you can't take any of their problems seriously. At times it even feels like a parody.

In addition to that, the film is extremely predictable. Now, predictability isn't the film's biggest problem, but it doesn't help when the film opens with a speech that basically says - 'you've heard this story before, but this isn't that story. This is our story' - you expect at least something different, but their story is pretty much the same as everyone else's.  

My biggest problem with the film is a problem that the first one didn't have - there is no plot. The first film was about something, and it made sense. The extent of the sequel plot is a couple periodically breaking up, getting back together and breaking up again. Oh, and Tessa's job (which comes with a few 2 dimensional side characters). About an hour in, we start to get interested in the story of Hardin and his parents, but this storyline isn't focused on enough to become significant in the story. 

This story wasn't interesting enough to be made into a film. Compared to the first one, it felt unnecessary.

Overall, if you enjoyed the first one, you'll probably want to see what happens next to Tessa and Hardin. I know that I'll definitely be watching the third one if it gets made. But otherwise, there are better ways to spend 100 minutes. 

3.5/10