Directed by Castille Landon and released by Wattpad’s own production company along with CalMaple, After We Fell is the third installment in the After franchise. The film holds an ‘R’ rating and was released into Canadian theatres on Sept. 10.
Josephine Langdon stars as Tessa Young, a sweet and emotionally fraught college student. Playing opposite her is Hero Fiennes Tiffin as Hardin Scott, a dark and brooding bad-boy clearly modeled after One Direction alum Harry Styles. Following directly after the previous installment After We Collided, the film continues to chronicle the dramatic ups and downs of Hardin and Tessa’s relationship. Secrets are revealed, the two contend with parent drama and must face harsh realities.
With a runtime of one hour and 39 minutes, After We Fell somehow feels far longer due to the amount of plot bloat. While this could be okay in a film that had something profound to say, After We Fell is full of the worst acting and writing that I’ve ever seen on-screen.
In addition, the film somehow manages to fit in five sex scenes between Tessa and Hardin in the film’s modest runtime. All of these feel uncomfortably long and at least two demonstrate that the film was able to secure a Durex sponsorship.
In fact, the film appeared to have been able to secure multiple sponsorships. Most notable were ones for Bounty, Tampax and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The strangest of these was ‘Crackle Flakes,’ a boxed cereal that looked suspiciously similar to Frosted Flakes. It seems that they were unable to settle on this sponsorship.
The one success of the film came from its cinematography – it’s clear that effort was put into the shot composition (especially the numerous sexual scenes), but this effort was drowned out by the bizarre choice in soundtrack and terrible writing.
Terrible writing is the clearest thread present in the film, as the plot takes the audience around in circles – Tessa and Hardin fight, one of them storms out, they eventually make up and reconcile by having sex. While directors don’t always have to attempt to reinvent the wheel, After We Fell doesn’t even make use of the wheel it has been given.
There is no universe in which After We Fell is worth seeing in theatres. While Fifty Shades of Grey is very similar in nature, After We Fell is even more of an embarrassment than its predecessor. Fifty Shades of Grey managed to get Taylor Swift and Zayn on a track for its album, while After We Fell couldn’t manage to get anyone.
If you’re planning on seeing a film in theatres in the coming weeks, pick any other film to spend your time watching. Your wallet (and the film industry) will thank you.
