After We Fell

After We Fell is the third installment in the After franchise. It picks up where the second film left off. Hardin and Tessa are still struggling to work out some of their communication failures as a couple while also trying to figure out how to manage some new revelations that could tear them apart for good.

At this point I know what I am getting with these stories. They are very intensely charged and overly dramatic yet still entertaining with plenty of steamy, sexy scenes. I liked the plot twist at the end of this movie and think that the script was better written than the second film.

I appreciated Josephine Langford's character, Tessa’s attempt at getting some independence in this film and growing as a person. I am however still having hard time rationalizing Hero Fiennes Tiffin's character, Hardin’s behavior. I would have hoped by the third film he would have matured more and I saw hints of it in parts of the movie but overall it was still the same emotional and childish antics. The Tessa and Hardin relationship is hard to justify at times. Sure, they have a strong physical connection but that seems to be all they have in common. They clearly can’t trust one another and manage to create drama that doesn’t exist in their relationship which can be quite frustrating to watch.

There was an attempt to continue the diversity in casting, with Hardin’s friend, Lillian, and a couple of characters from the first two movies coming back, which I appreciated. However, it would have been nice to get a deeper dive on all of their characters. Additionally, there were four recasts, which made it hard to follow who was who in this one. Thankfully this film and the next film were shot back to back so it won’t be as hard to keep up next time.

Overall, I thought that the movie was better than After We Collided but still not one I'd watch again. I’m also going to reiterate what I had mentioned in my review of After We Collided, which was that I'm not a huge fan of romanticizing unhealthy relationships, something I feel is common in movies adapted from young adult novels, but I'm going to finish this ride in hopes of more growth and maturity in the final film, which is expected to drop sometime this year.