dir. Castille Landon
They’re still going. The only vague consolation to be had from this, the fifth entry in the hideous After saga (after After, After We Collided, After We Fell, and After Ever Happy) is that this is supposedly, finally, the last one. But that still doesn’t justify its wretched existence. After their millionth falling-out, Tessa and Hardin are no longer speaking. Much of the film follows Hardin brooding around Lisbon, hopping from party to boat to bar, wondering how to win back Tessa’s heart and suffering from a sophomore slump after his successful debut novel. To the audience, both pursuits seem a total joke, and hardly warranting a feature-length exploration. Tessa and Hardin’s relationship was unhealthy to the point of sheer lunacy, and Hardin’s continued whiny entitlement to her affections does nothing to change this. Meanwhile, his writing career is exemplified in snippets of nonsensical prose such as “It was an old sedan, years beyond its prime. The driver was quite the opposite.” Of course, After Everything continues the series’ penchant for passionless sex scenes, and character arcs so stunted they essentially move backwards: Tessa decides to forgive Hardin after a whole lot of absolutely nothing changing, while Hardin’s development is seemingly reflected through the fact that he becomes willing to drink smoothies. The After series is one film after another of the same mundanity, the same toxicity, and at their core the same creative and emotional black hole of nothingness. Thank God this one is, as per its poster, “The Final Chapter”.
BMDb 