Where to begin with the storied project that is After? Based on the trailer alone, which is out today, most unsuspecting viewers would assume this is merely the latest Y.A.-aimed movie melodrama inspired, even this many years later, by Twilight and the like. But in truth, the film’s origin story is a lot wilder and weirder than one might assume.
For the unsuspecting: After, directed by Jenny Gage, is an upcoming film based on a series of novels written by Anna Todd. The erotic books began as fan fiction, revolving around a college girl named Tessa who falls in love with a bad boy named Harry Styles—as in, the extremely famous One Direction singer. The story, which Todd posted on Wattpad in 2013, became outrageously popular, eventually racking up over a billion views—which didn’t go unnoticed by the publishing industry. In 2014, Todd landed a six-figure, multi-book deal with Gallery Books, publishing follow-ups After We Collided, After We Fell, and After Ever Happy. (The books, however, don’t use Styles’s name, changing him into a fictional character named Hardin Scott—legalities!) Paramount Pictures quickly nabbed the screen rights; the film is now being distributed by Aviron Pictures. If this entire scenario sounds familiar, it’s because it basically follows the same formula as Fifty Shades of Grey: an erotic novel, written by E.L. James, that began as Twilight fan fiction and eventually begat a film franchise of its own. The first Fifty Shades adaptation came out the year after Todd’s mammoth After book deal.
And now, an After movie is upon us. The film stars Josephine Langford as Tessa and Hero Fiennes Tiffin (his real name!) as Hardin. In case you’re wondering, yes: Fiennes Tiffin is the nephew of actors Joseph and Ralph Fiennes. Thanks to his connection and family resemblance, Hero previously played a young version of Lord Voldemort, his uncle Ralph’s character, in the sixth Harry Potter movie.
The movie looks like it will tick off all the Twilight-meets-Fifty Shades plot points one might expect. Tessa is a sweet, normal girl; Hardin is mysterious and brooding, with classic bad-boy signifiers like black clothes and finger tattoos. Like Edward Cullen and Christian Grey before him, he’s also got a dark, manipulative side (a plot point that has been deemed problematic by many). But in an interview with Elle, Fiennes Tiffin promised that the film does its best to right the much-criticized wrongs of the book in major and minor ways. “There was one stage direction where we’re giggling and running away from someone, and Tessa trips and Hardin steadies her,” he said. “And the director quite rightly said, ‘This is a pointless stage direction. It assumes that girls can’t run on their own.’ It was one of the many things we were conscious of when filming.” This most impressive fanfic Ouroboros will hit theaters in April.
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