After We Collided
Ratings: 4.5/5
Director: Roger Kumble
Screenplay: Anna Todd, Mario Celaya
Production: Jennifer Gibgot, Nicolas Chartier, Anna Todd, Aron Levitz, Courtney Solomon, Mark Canton, Brian Pitt
Genre: Romantic Drama
Language: English
Release Date: 2nd October, 2020
Released In: Theatres
Star Cast: Josephine Langford, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, John Jackson Hunter, Louise Lombard, Dylan Sprouse, Candice King, Charlie Weber, Max Ragone, Selma Blair, Shane Paul McGhie, Rob Estes, Karimah Westbrook, Samuel Larsen, Khadijha Red Thunder, Pia Mia, Inanna Sarkis, Dylan Arnold, Ariel Yasmine, Stefan Rollins
Plot:
Tessa Young finds herself struggling with her complicated relationship with Hardin Scott. In the aftermath of their breakup, she begins her internship at Vance Publishing Company, where she attracts the attention of her new co-worker, Trevor.
Review:
‘After We Collided’ is a 2020 American romantic film directed by Roger Kumble and written by Anna Todd and Mario Celaya. It is based on the 2014 new adult fiction novel of the same name by Todd, and is the sequel to ‘After’ (2019).
If one hasn’t seen the first film in the franchise, fortunately, there isn't much backstory in its predictable premise to catch up on.
As this film opens, the heroine Tessa (Josephine Langford) is seen getting into an internship at the publishing empire of Kim (Candice King) and Christian Vance (Charlie Weber), because she's trying not to think of the bad break-up with her ex-boyfriend Hardin (Hero Fiennes Tiffin).
Meanwhile, Hardin (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) is struggling with Tessa’s refusal to forgive his crushing betrayal. His numerous texts begging forgiveness have gone unanswered, leading to another tattoo added to his body.
Over the course of the next 105 minutes, Tess and Hardin seemingly get back together and break up at least half a dozen times. There’s also a semi-love triangle with Trevor, a visit from Hardin’s mother, Trish (Louise Lombard), and a dash of Hardin’s unsolved familial issues with his estranged father, Ken and his new wife, Karen (Karimah Westbrook replacing Jennifer Beals). This time, Hardin’s group of college friends only appear briefly here.
The screenplay is by Anna Todd working with Mario Celaya, from Todd's series of novels. There's a fascinating story behind Todd and her success. Todd's ‘After’ series began as One Direction fan fiction, with her earlier versions based on the romantic life of a fictionalised version of Harry Styles. Todd published her work on the storytelling platform Wattpad and gathered 400-plus-million readers for her work.
The plot is light and feels episodic rather than structured. Everything looks set up; there is absolutely no room for any ‘newness’.
The film opened in an additional 21 markets, bringing in $4.2M, bringing the overall tally to approximately $21M. Overseas, the UK is a particularly notable source of box office success. After premiering last weekend on just 59 screens via Shear Entertainment, theatres upped the count to 380 screens. The first film was not released theatrically in the market, selling instead to Netflix, but an online push asked fans to let the exhibition know how much they wanted to see the movie in a cinema.
Voltage President and COO Jonathan Deckter spoke on the success saying, “Our success in the UK is a testament to the power of a strategic grassroots social campaign that spoke directly to our film’s target audience in the forum they prefer. Traditional release marketing will always have its place, but as far as Afternators are concerned, they live and breathe social”.
This film has incorporated more humour, better chemistry and Lombard and Dylan Sprouse’s new characters do add an extra dimension. However, After We Collided is still trampled upon by terribly choreographed twists, stereotypical dialogue and the overuse of pop-songs to convey emotion.
There seems to be some kind of superficiality to this love story that consistently ignores the toxic masculinity portrayed through almost every scene. However, if you loved the first film, there’s a high chance you will like this sequel too!
