After We Collided
Parents say
Based on 10 reviews
Kids say
Based on 48 reviews
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After We Collided
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that After We Collided takes the action up a notch from its prequel with much more frequent and explicit sex scenes, language, and partying. The film feels more appropriate for a slightly older audience than the original, After. Main characters Hardin and Tessa have sex in a variety of locations, including a shower and an office. No private parts are shown, but the scenes are explicit, including movements, suggested orgasms, implications of oral sex, close-ups of thighs, mentions of condoms and being "turned on," and hands on private parts on top of and under each other's clothes. College-age young adults taunt each other with sexual language like "skank" and "whore." This often comes as part of wild party scenes at a frat house, where there's heavy drinking, drinking games, bongs, flirting, and hooking up. Drinking is a theme in the film as Hardin struggles with an alcohol addiction, and he "self-medicates" with alcohol when things don't go his way. Despite this, people drink in his presence regularly, and Tessa gets very drunk on a couple of occasions, including at a work function and a college party. Heavy drinking scenes often end in physical fights or sexual encounters. A car accident sends Tessa to the hospital, but she's fine soon after. Language includes "f--k," "a--wipe," "suck," "oh my God," "dumbass," "bitch," "hell," "d--k," "bulls--t," and "carpet sucking."
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What's the Story?
Tessa (Josephine Langford) and Hardin (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) have been apart for a month, but their attraction is still alive in AFTER WE COLLIDED. Tessa is working at a publishing house as part of a paid internship, where she befriends Trevor (Dylan Sprouse), a do-gooder who develops a crush on her. Hardin is still struggling to put his past behind him, including a traumatic event from his childhood and the emotional turmoil of his parents' divorce and his dad forming a happy new family. After a night of drinking, Tessa calls Hardin and the two get back together, first just physically but then in a more committed way. Will their love be able to withstand Hardin's problems and past lies? When Tessa is offered a job in Seattle and Trevor tells Hardin he's no good for her, their future looks less certain than ever.
Is It Any Good?
A sequel of the cult Wattpad-published, One Direction fan fiction series (turned book series), this movie has a built-in audience, but it offers little of interest for anyone else. After We Collided relies heavily on clichéd characters, especially the contrast of bad boy Hardin, covered in tattoos and dealing with an alcohol addiction, and good boy Trevor, the bespectacled numbers whiz. It also offers a laughably unrealistic view of both college, which aside from a couple of mentions and some over-the-top frat parties, it's unclear if anyone actually attends, and the working world, where on only her second day of a low-paid internship, Tessa is taken to a conference, bought a new dress by her supervisor, invited to a nightclub, offered alcoholic drinks despite being underage, and put up in a fancy hotel suite.
Langford and Fiennes Tiffin do a fine job of transmitting the electrical excitement of new lovers who can't keep their hands off each other. Unfortunately, the rest of the film and characters feel constructed solely to prop up the choreographed sex scenes. Yes, their tortuous relationship is the main story, but it can't ring true if the action and characters around it don't. (An exception is Hardin's mom, played by Louise Lombard.) An opening voice-over draws parallels between this story and similar ones "passed down through the ages," recalling the Greeks, Shakespeare, the Brontes, and Jane Austen. It's a laughable overstatement. The film does what it's meant to do for a specific intended audience. Why try to suggest anything grander?
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how After We Collided compares to the first in the series, After.
If you've read the original series, how are the films similar to or different from the written works? Should film adaptations always be faithful to the original? Why or why not?
In the final scene, a new character is introduced. Did this make you want to watch the next film in the series? Where do you think the story will go with this character?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: November 24, 2020
- Cast: Josephine Langford, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Dylan Sprouse
- Director: Roger Kumble
- Studio: CalMaple
- Genre: Romance
- Topics: Book Characters
- Run time: 105 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- MPAA explanation: sexual content, language throughout and some drug material
- Last updated: March 31, 2022
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