After, the Harry Styles fanfic and adolescent version of Fifty Shades of Grey, just arrived on Netflix. The fanfiction made headlines in 2015 when author Anna Todd signed a six-figure publishing deal. She has since released four more books in the Afterseries, and the first film debuted earlier this year.
Harry-Styles-inspired “Hardin” is a tattooed bad boy known for his devilish smirks and husky accent. Tessa, the female lead, is a not-so-obvious “Mary Sue.” Avid fanfictioners use this term to describe a character who is annoyingly perfect and beloved by all. Usually, the Mary Sue is the author’s pitiful attempt to insert her fictional self into the world she is writing about.
In After, the Mary Sue – I mean Tessa – is a wide-eyed college freshman who inevitably falls for the bad boy, her polar opposite. The two share a few spats, including one where they argue about whether Mr. Darcy really loved Ms. Bennet. There is that steamy near kiss in the lake, where Tessa begs Hardin to ravish her. He trails his fingertips across her breast and whispers into her ear, “we have time” before withdrawing from her embrace.
Hardin is the boy we all secretly desire. He is a delicious mix of undeniable alpha and misunderstood brooding artist. He is the boy we are attracted to – reason be damned – because we think he can be saved.
Tessa is no exception. She makes a few bad decisions around him, mainly because of his intense sexual power. In fact, infatuation – obsession even – seems to be the only real tie binding them together. While their chemistry is undeniable, it’s not enough to justify the pacing of the film. After loses its authenticity (not that melodramas have much in the first place) when the couple moves in together 20 minutes into the film. Clearly the directors have not heard of the seductive “slow burn” that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats in frustration. Instead, After rushes through the fiery collision of Tess and Hardin to focus on all the cutesy things couples (maybe) do. The bathtub scene is by far the best in the entire movie, and one of the few where we see any real emotion besides lust.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for romances. After has a few scenes where you’ll curl your toes in anticipation and where you’ll want to jump up and down on your bed. I even texted my ex-boyfriend after watching the movie.
But it’s no Nicholas Sparks. After won’t be a film that anyone gushes about in ten years. It won’t be a film praised for its depiction of college romance. It probably won’t even reach cult status like Twilight.After is just adequate. It’s a film that fulfills exactly what it was supposed to and nothing more – to represent a mediocre fanfiction that uses the same clichés, tropes, and characters as a thousand others. It sounds demeaning, yes, but as an avid reader – and writer – of fanfiction, this plot is nothing original.
After is cute, worth a watch if there’s nothing else to do on a Saturday night. But it certainly won’t be inspiring any fanfictions of its own.