After Ever Happy – A Melodramatic Blender

Defying all expectations, the After series, based on the book series from Anna Todd, continues to chug along with the release of the now fourth film of the series just as the fifth film in the series has already wrapped production. The melodramatic romance franchise despite a multitude of issues, continues to find a dedicated audience that keep coming back for more thus prompting more films. Well, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Relying on the same formula time in and time out, they have more or less become shells of themselves. Essentially throwing some lazy melodramatic plot beats into a blender involving two or more characters who are the absolute worst, they do just enough to get by. That being said, the characters and the dialog will surely test the patience of the most fervent audiences. At this point, it should be abundantly clear that these films will not be for everyone as it is geared towards younger adults. The best films are the ones that can relate to audiences therefore this one is very likely going to struggle in doing so. This is ultimately where After Ever Happy will live or die as audiences continue to spin in circles through the same plot beats and that is being generous.

After Ever Happy once again sees Tessa (Langford) and Hardin (Tiffin) continue to spiral when faced with even more adversity as a recent truth about Hardin’s past sent him into a deep depression which dragged Tessa, who was at her wit’s end, down with him. More drama than romance, the story allows each some perspective as well as some time for some introspection as they dealt with their issues. Knowing these characters, it’s difficult to believe them or ever take them seriously because of that predictable outcome. Clearly toxic for one another, the plot is for the most part another will they or won’t they. However, the magic of that is pretty much gone as the film merely consists of a series melodramatic detours thrown in a blender, for which the details do not matter whatsoever for anyone who hasn’t read any of the source material (myself included), their way that add nothing to it. Tessa and Hardin are far from perfect as people yet the fact that they fail to learn from their mistakes for a sustained period of time gets frustrating though not surprising after a while. Surprise implies expectations but it’s hard to have any here considering the franchise thus far. At the end of the day, it’s just hard to care about Tessa or Hardin let alone anyone else here.

In terms of performances, After Ever Happy was never going to be an acting showcase but here, they are either bad because of the cringeworthy writing or they are bad in spite of it. Either way, they’re bad in ways which are unintentionally hilarious at times. Now their fourth film together, one would think that the chemistry between Langford and Tiffin would only get better over time as Tessa and Hardin. However, for whatever reason, they still don’t look comfortable with one another. Spending more time apart in this film only accentuated their lack of range, especially Tiffin, creating the opposite intended effect of their character arcs. Meanwhile, the other simply accepted their paychecks and moved on.

For those who are not fans of the source material, After Ever Happy is going to leave audiences feeling the opposite of happy. Running at around the 90-minute mark, it’s certainly going to feel like more than that. When it comes to trashy romance content, there are so many better options out there.

still courtesy of VVS Films

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.