Criticism | After: After the Truth – The second film in the franchise is more faithful to the books

Anna Todd is a real phenomenon, and this position cannot be denied to her. In 2014, she burst into the literary world with her young adult novel “ After ”, published for free on the self-publishing platform Wattpad, and reached millions of reads because, among other things, it is well written. It was enough to grab the attention of publishers around the world, who bought the translation rights. Readers – mostly readers – have built a fandom and have come together all over the world, asking for the work to be adapted. So, once again, Anna Todd joined Wattpad Studios (producer of Wattpad) and together signed the agreement to adapt the author’s work. So, after “ After ” – in 2019, with a thunderous debut in theaters – the long-awaited sequel, “ After: After the Truth ” arrives on the Amazon Prime platform.

Tessa (Josephine Langford) has broken up with Hardin (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) and cannot forgive him. It is not for this reason that he moans in the corners, on the contrary: he got a wonderful internship in a publishing house where he meets Trevor (Dylan Sprouse), a very shy and helpful colleague. There she continues to work for Kimberly (Candice King), her supervisor and mr. Vance (Charlie Weber), who calls him for a business meeting. At the party, Tessa ends up getting excited, drinks a little too much and calls her ex. In a few minutes, Hardin returns to his life, and it will be very difficult for Tessa to pull him away, when all she wants to do is stay with him.

For those who read the books and closely follow the trajectory of this saga, “After: After the Truth” delivers an adaptation much closer to that imagined by readers, even more than the first film. It shows how attentive Anna Todd (who appears in the nightclub scene at the start of the film) is so that her fans – who are the reason she got to where she is – are not disappointed. Thus, the script signed by her and Mario Celaya recovers important elements of the plot, but, on the other hand, ends up floating in certain cores, approaching them in a very superficial way and, therefore, not convincing of the drama of their characters. . With the story centered on Tessa, the scenario chooses to unfold the comings and goings of the main couple, opening up a zero space for the emergence of the small climate between Tessa and Trevor, essential to the construction of the triangle. In the movie, everything was totally loose, which made it difficult to cheer on the boy, however cool he was.

Roger Kumble recaptures his technique of capturing the seduction game so well used in ‘Second Intentions’ to set the right tone of sensuality in the youthful sex scenes, which look great in the feature film. In contrast, the dialogue scenes are a bit raw, some with little connection, especially in the second plot arc. Roger Kumble devoted his directorial skills more to the hot scenes than to the evolution of the plot.

Irregular and predictable, yet precise in key moments in the saga, ‘After: After the Truth’ is a film designed for fans and delivers exactly what they and they hope to see, although many critics resist this type of production. Oh, and stick around until the end, which has a cute, heart-wrenching post-credit.

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