Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

After Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 29, 2019

Writer Anna Todd's novel After falls into a relatively new literary genre called "New Adult Fiction" that is something of a stepping stone between more traditional Young Adult reads and adult fiction. While the book may be something of a pioneer in a burgeoning filed, Director Jenny Gage's film adaptation is a relatively flat, but by no means awful, new entry into well-worn genre territory. Although promotional materials (including its home video artwork) promise something that looks more steamy and sultry -- there's a Dirty Dancing inspiration at work, which is probably very intentional considering that After follows a fairly similar narrative pathway -- the film is actually more inwardly reflective even as it hops through outward types and tropes, struggling to walk a tightrope between exploring its characters' intimate sides while slogging through familiar arcs and predictable plot twists.

Tessa (Josephine Langford) is a freshman moving off to Rossmore University, leaving behind her overprotective mother Carol (Selma Blair) and safe-space boyfriend Noah (Dylan Arnold), who is a senior in high school. Carol is immediately concerned for her daughter’s well-being after meeting her roommate, Steph (Khadijha Red Thunder), who has the look of being a bad influence. But it’s a mysterious young man, Hardin (Hero Fiennes-Tiffin), son of the school’s chancellor, who is everything her mother worried about and everything she never knew in Noah: tattooed, edgy, independent, and deeply intelligent and sensual. She is drawn to his quiet, yet rebellious, magnetism. He shows her a side of the world, and herself, she never knew existed. But can she handle the pressures of a suddenly changing world and personal perspective, and can Hardin find in her soul a comfortable place where he can settle into a true love he’s never known?

In case it’s not patently obvious by now, After spins a classic tale of a straight arrow who discovers another world, another life, another love, another side of herself, at college. The movie is quick to establish Tessa as a straight-laced sort, is quick to set the idea of change into motion, but is somewhat slow to build towards that inevitable first kiss and, of course, all of the emotional and social complications and implications to follow. The movie handles the material commendably, managing to hold some level of interest even through a series of trite ebbs and flows that don’t simply allow the audience to predict what’s to come but rather promise it. But the cast carries it. Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin build a surprisingly robust chemistry through the toils of working amidst flat narrative contrivances. There’s a soulful spark in them, a feel for falling in love that begins when they argue their love philosophies by masquerading the conversation as a back-and-forth on Pride & Prejudice and continues on through how they realistically respond to all of the manufactured story stereotypes that guide their relationship along the way.

Indeed, it’s that center quality and feel for emotional honesty that exists deep within the characters that makes the movie work. The actors commendably take recycled material and give it a feel for true passion and purpose in their own lives, for their part and to their credit dismissing the burdens such things are on the cinema medium and embracing them as real, felt emotions rather than stops on a linear path. Langford and Fiennes-Tiffin take the characters to heart, realizing the imperfections that shape them in their own questioning and hurting souls, she in her view of and approach to intimacy and he in his inability to commit to anything beyond a fling and holding a horrible secret from the one he’s growing to love. And it is there in the third act where the movie truly falls apart, when the plot turns into variation on She's All That. It feels forced in an effort to find drama where it really doesn't need to exist, and while the film commendably concludes on something of an ambitious note, the damage has already been done. It's just all too unoriginal and incapable of elevating even by way of a couple of strong lead performances.

After Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

After was digitally photographed. It's very well detailed in bright locales and warmly lit low light locations alike. The film does not want for intimate character close-ups meant to bring out the nuanced emotions at play in the performances, and viewers will note every pore, hair, and other detail with effortless ease. Clothes are nicely detailed, too, and the image is not wanting for greater clarity and textural visibility around campus. Colors are pleasantly neutral, offering good, balanced contrast with just enough pop to satisfy. Skin tones appear accurate and nighttime black levels hold deep and true. Noise is fairly prominent in some of the warmer low-light locations but isn't much of an issue in well-lit scenes. The image shows no prominent compression related issues.

After Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

After features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The track offers a nice assortment of college dormitory sounds where the bustle of move-in-day is nicely recreated through the entire stage, dropping the listener into the fray. Party din in chapter four is likewise well defined with prominent bass at work, and background barroom atmosphere in chapter eight is also the beneficiary of nicely detailed and surround-oriented atmosphere. Music plays with rich detail and wide front-side spacing; light surround cues are in play, too. The track offers nothing resembling hard, impacting sounds, favoring critical ambience and music and dialogue to tell its story. The latter is well prioritized and nicely detailed with firmly positioned front-center placement.

After Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

After's Blu-ray release contains four deleted scenes (1080p): Zed Flirts with Tessa (0:42), Tessa and Zed Cause a Stir (2:19), Tessa Meets Chancellor Scott (1:07), and Wedding Prep (1:31). A DVD copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

After Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

After has its moments of agreeable storytelling, thanks largely to its two lead actors who are unafraid to personalize and humanize deeply held yet intimately familiar storytelling tropes. The supporting cast -- particularly Selma Blair and Dylan Arnold -- does good work, too, but the film ultimately crumbles under the burden of too many tropes dropped onto a heap of shaky foundational stereotypes. Universal's Blu-ray release of After delivers quality video and audio presentations. Supplements are limited to a few deleted scenes. Worth a look.