After We Collided

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?