After review: why the movie is never as good as the book 

Spoilers ahead. Don’t read if you haven’t read all five After books or watched the movie. 

Okay, so you know there’s at least one obstacle when one adapts a book into a movie. It’s called time. No amount of time will ever be enough. The first After book by Anna Todd is 582 pages long, and the movie about two hours, so safe to say, I knew some things, scenes, background stories would be missing. That’s the power of writing. It’s easy, it imaginative, anything can happen, anything is possible and there’s no time limit. I know Anna’s been on set like everyday, and I know, that she did everything she could, but I must say, the pg13-rating is a disaster! And I’m not just thinking about the sex scenes. I loved the books, you can read about my fangirling HERE or my review of the first book HERE but unfortunately, the movie just disappointed me.

Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin did a kick-ass job portraying Tessa and Hardin, but everything that was radical, different and all that made the books so much more than a Fifty Shades for teenagers or a classical good girl meets bad guy-clichè is just missing with the rating.

I know the primary target group is teens and young adults, but come on! I really hope there’s a non-rated version lying somewhere in a directors cut room, that’s gonna be available for the dvd/streaming later on.

Okay, so here’s the main reasons why the movies is never better than the book:

Hardin being Hardin
The bad boy is gone! No swearing, no yelling, no real fighting, no throwing things around: wanted: the guitar bookshelf smashing I saw in the teaser. It’s really a tease, folks. Don’t happen in the movie. In the book Hardin is really bad. Tessa keeps yelling at him: why do you hate me? I know the movie doesn’t have time to show bad boy Hardin turning good because of his love for Tessa. But still. I would have liked to se the ‘i-dont-give-a-shit’-attitude and the swearing. I just missed the bad boy.

The one with the i love you at the bet scene
Where’s the: I LOVE YOU, TESSA, in front of the whole group and Tessa yelling at Hardin? It’s just gone. Everything is too soft. But still. The emotions and the chemistry between Josephine and Hero was amazing and so powerful. I actually felt an ache in my stomach, when I knew the bet scene was coming up. But theres so many great lines from the scene in the book that I missed. I just needed a bit more drama added also. Thats what I loved most about the books. And yes. They changed the point of the bet to someone more innocent, and I get why. But the bookversion is just better and more sad.

The one with the no ketchup
Its wasn’t really there. The ketchup scene. Just a quick comment from Tessa, that she ordered hers without ketchup. I would have love to have seen that, as it became so iconic. Hardin protecting Tessa, saying: she ordered WITHOUT ketchup.

The one with Zed, Molly, Jace og Sistan
I know. The time limit. But still. I needed a bit more of the group. The synergies, the dynamic between them. And the whole storyline with Zed competing with Hardin to win over Tessa. Gone. I missed that.

The one with the sex
I don’t know where to begin. Fifty shades made me a little.. After books made me OVER the TOP! After movie: made me not. I’m sorry, but the sex scenes where practically non existing. We didn’t see anything. No nudes things, the first time was like. Nothing. Ive heard somewhere, that the lake scene was STEAMY, and that Hardin actually u know.. To Hessa. But that definitely wasn’t in the rated danish version i saw.

The one where Noah finds out
Do you remember the drama, the heart attack you almost got, when you read the scene where Hardin forces a crying Tessa to tell Noah where she’s slept for the night? It’s gone. Now it’s just Noah and Tessa crying and Hardin standing in the background looking to sweet.

The one where we get to know Ken Scott
No scenes but the Wedding scenes. Very few lines. The one where he’s talking to Tessa saying: “it’s about Hardin”, asking Tessa to  make Hardin go to the wedding. Gone. Needed more. And the “you look stunning”-scene from the trailer. Its not in the movie either. Also. Hardin telling Tessa about the night his mother got attacked while Ken is giving his speech to Karen at the wedding. Just felt awkward. Although Hero delivering that was LIT! I mean. He’s an amazing actor. I felt so bad for him. Just wanted to hug sad Hardin.

But with all that said. I love AFTER. I love Anna. I love Hero and Jo. I love Tessa and Hardin. I loved all the new scenes. They were so cute and romantic. I just needed some more drama and more sex. I will probably watch the movie again and again, and I hope there will be a sequel, but im sorry, the BOOK IS JUST BETTER THAN THE MOVIE. So read the books. And then go see the movie. We need a sequel. Theres so much more story to tell.