is like starting with fan fictions like "Fifty Shades of Ash" and the previous "Holy Grail: City of Bones". It has a huge readership, so that its author Anna Todd signed with Simon Schuster Publishing agreement. The story of a young couple falling in love inspires an unimaginable loyal fan base among pre-adolescent and adolescent girls, but it has also been criticized for the abusive nature of this core relationship. The film based on this novel is directed by Jenny Gage and written by Susan McMartin. "After" is a nuanced examination of the ups and downs of first love. Although there are some absurd narrative transitions, it is still a charming romantic story.
In "After", Tessa Yang started her first-year university life with the image of a perfect daughter and a perfect student. However, when she met the contemplative Harding Scott, Tessa's world changed. The core of "After" is the relationship between Tessa and Harding, and the film constructs and develops this relationship in a compelling way. First love can be fascinating, especially when the teenagers are rebellious, as Tessa and Harding are in "After". Tessa has always lived as a perfect daughter/student/girlfriend. When she faced Harding alone for the first time, she discovered her true self. In this way, "After" is also a growth story. Tessa has discovered her desire. She wants to find her life in a romantic relationship. This movie has a good balance between the growth story and the romantic story, although it is more inclined towards a romantic storyline.
The romance between Tessa and Harding is explored through the intimacy of director Geki who tends to use a lot of close-ups, allowing the audience to experience the emotional range and intimate moments of the characters. Of course, "After" is a PG-13 film, but it still successfully portrays the heroine exploring her sexuality for the first time in her life in a way that makes people feel real-even if its background is a A world of ultra-real romantic stories. This is largely due to Gage's skilled director skills, and the leading actors and actresses also interpret the relationship between Tessa and Harding very well. In addition, this relationship is well developed through McMartin's script. Sometimes the script is really wonderful, such as a special "fight" between Tessa and Harding on "Pride and Prejudice", but there are also times when the story seems to be limited due to the need to stick to the original.
Although Tessa and Harding are the focus of "After", the script is particularly difficult to prove the key story points, because "After" did not properly develop the relationship between Tessa and her mother. The film was distorted in some ways, allowing Tessa and Harding to reach the position they needed in the great conflict, but it never really proved how they got there. Similarly, the other teenage children beside Harding are basically half-spoken ordinary characters. They play their own roles in promoting the development of the plot and do nothing. However, although Gage's film may be a bit strenuous under the pressure of adapting a lengthy film like the original, it brilliantly compressed the story to a satisfying 1 hour and 46 minutes.
Therefore, for fans of Todd's original work, even those who are interested in the story but worry about the relationship between Tessa and Harding in the book, "After" is an interesting movie. This is a true portrayal of first love and the "sexual awakening" of young women, but it is as close to the original as possible without too much adjustment to its problematic themes. This movie is not necessarily a must-see movie in theaters, but it is definitely an excellent countermeasure to other currently released movies and provides a fascinating romantic story. "After" is a truly valuable modern romance film that will be loved by young women.
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