After, rated PG-13, is a romantic drama, directed by Jenny Gage available on Netflix beginning in the fall.  I’ve watched it three times.  It’s not the world’s greatest movie, but After is great for an “after”noon of movie-watching.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie was rated 17% by the critics, and was rated 72% by the audience. While the story was ”cheesy,” I should not be criticized for enjoying this feel-good movie.

In After, Josephine Langford plays the main character Tessa Young, an innocent, soft-spoken, college freshman. Not long after her first day, she begins a relationship with  “bad boy” Hardin Scott, played by actor Hero Fiennes-Tiffin.

Tessa moves in her dorm with the help of her high school boyfriend, Noah, and her mom. Her mom immediately wants to ask for a room change when she meets Tessa’s roommate Steph, “the bad influence.” Tessa reassures her mom everything will be fine.  Of course it’s not going to be fine.

The next day, Tessa has an embarrassing encounter with Hardin who is in her room . . . as she is getting out of the shower.  This is every girl’s nightmare–to be discovered in a towel.

Even though Tessa knows Steph is walking her into a risky situation, Tessa agrees to go to a party with Steph. At the party, Steph’s friends discover Tessa is a virgin because it’s a question in the game of Truth or Dare, so they dare her to kiss Hardin, but she refuses.  I don’t think college parties focus on middle school games like Truth or Dare, but it works in the movie.

The next day Hardin approaches her asking if they could start over. She falls for this lame re-start.  Even though we know better, all girls fall for the “sincere” approach.

Of course true love is complicated by her discovery that Hardin is in the relationship because of a dare.  In fact, the whole movie becomes one big “truth” or “dare.”  And there’s a swimming in the lake love scene–not original either, but satisfying.

The ending of the movie leaves watchers with a cliff hanger, which was the only bad part of the movie in my opinion.

The story line has been done many times. Viewers can predict every next move, but that doesn’t matter to me. In the movie, 10 Things I Hate About You, a guy is paid to take out a girl. Then she finds out about it, but they still end up together. Unlike that teen classic, this movie used the main character’s sister as a big part, which in my opinion made it better because it wasn’t just about two people, and it kept my attention more.

There will be a sequel called After We Collided. The movie crew has officially wrapped up filming, but they do not have a release date yet.

Overall, I definitely recommend watching this movie. It’s enjoyable and a great movie to watch with your friends.