As a reader, I told myself to not have too much expectations when going into the theaters, but I left feeling so empty. There was no significant climax, and the beginning was extremely choppy and rushed. Some scenes were absolutely unnecessary, especially that one scene where Steph & Tristan made out while Tessa was sleeping. Absolutely no build up from that scene! I'm still so confused why it even made the cut because it was a waste of time! Had they followed the book and introduced Hardin earlier, they probably could have avoided so many filler scenes and progressed with the two's relationship so much better. In the one sex scene where he goes down on her, there's no context that he doesn't want to go all the way with her yet because of the bet or whatever. There was awkward dialogue and a lack of good dialogue. I know that most of the actors are rookies, but some dialogue just felt so cringe and awkward especially when Tessa asked Hardin why he stopped at the lake. I laughed out loud when she said that lol. The character development was horrible & they did a mediocre job at portraying Hardin. You get montages of them together & there's never anything to explain their relationship. They're about to kiss one day and all of a sudden, Hardin says he can't stay away from her & asks her to go to the lake. Had I watched this movie without reading the book, I would have been super lost. I want to love it, but it's hard with how they executed the final cut. Everything felt so choppy and out of place. Ugh.
Review of After
