After Ever Happy

 

After Ever Happy is the fourth film in the After franchise. It picks up right after the bombshell that ended After We Fell. It follows Tessa and Hardin as they deal with shocking revelations from their families that threaten to end their relationship once and for all.

The After franchise is a bit of a torturous, vicious cycle. Every movie focuses on the same themes around falling back into unhealthy relationships and trying to fix someone else vs them fixing themselves. The script was corny and was frustrating at times. The romanticizing of this unhealthy relationship is still front and center.

Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes Tiffin have reprised their roles once again as Tessa Young and Hardin Scott. Their chemistry is infectious so I see why so many movies are made, even if the plots and the scripts are never very good. I still think that Josephine is the star, her role as Tessa is always so good. She gives so much range, she tries hard to evolve and be independent. Hero on the other hand as Hardin is still moody, destructive and annoying but I finally feel like this might be the last time I describe him this way, as I’m starting to see a lot more effort into the evolution of his character. They are only a handful of people who have made it through all four movies without a recast. Seven characters have had a change since the original. Even though the current cast is the same as After We Fell I still had to Google people to remember who they were. The new Carol Young played by Mira Sorvino is not my favorite. This is her second film and she just doesn’t have the maternal instinct or likeability that Selma Blair brought in the first two movies. The new Landon Gibson played by Chance Perdomo is just as good as Shane Paul McGhie so this recasting wasn’t as much of a shock. I’m getting more used to Stephen Moyer’s British accent since he was originally cast as an American when Charlie Weber played the part. The change was an odd one but it does fit the script a bit better now since Hero is also British.

Something that keeps me coming back to these coming of age romantic dramas is the catchy soundtracks. They do a great job of intertwining the best songs throughout.

With every film viewership has plummeted but there apparently are just enough fans to keep the party going. I was hoping this would be the final movie, but there has been a fifth movie greenlit. I have put so many hours into watching these films I feel obligated to finish it out. I am certain they will not get better but I am going to continue to subject myself to the torture, just like Tessa, in hopes that it gets better.