Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 2022
After Ever Happy
Buy After Ever Happy now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'After Ever Happy' is a 2022 American romantic drama film directed by Castille Landon, from a screenplay by Sharon Soboil. Based on the 2015 novel of the same name by Anna Todd, it is the fourth installment in the 'After' film series, following 'After' (2019), 'After We Collided' (2020) and 'After We Fell' (2021). The film stars Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes Tiffin, reprising their roles as Tessa Young and Hardin Scott, respectively.
'After Ever Happy' had its world premiere in London on August 10, 2022, and was released theatrically on September 7, 2022. A sequel, 'After Everything', is in production.
Plot
A couple of hours after Christian Vance reveals to Hardin he is Hardin's biological father, Hardin returns to his mother's wedding reception with Tessa, where he confronts her about the deception. Vance tries to explain himself, but Hardin storms off with a bottle of whiskey. That evening, Tessa finds a drunk Hardin breaking into Trish's house and setting the place on fire. Hardin realizes his mistake and tries to put the fire out, to no avail, but Vance arrives and sneaks Hardin out the back to Tessa's car as the fire department arrives. Hardin wakes up the next morning and Tessa tells him Vance told the police he had set the fire himself. They drive to a hill where they have sex.
Tessa and Hardin return to their hotel where she confides in Kimberley, Vance's fiancee, about her problems dealing with Hardin's anger issues before discovering Hardin has left the hotel. Tessa tracks him down to a party where she finds him drunk and high. She offers him a chance to leave with her, but he declines and she returns to the US. After her friend and Hardin's half brother, Landon, drops her off, she finds her father, Richard, dead in her apartment, having OD'd. Landon calls Hardin dozens of times to let him know before he finally picks up. He returns to Tessa and tries to comfort her, but she hides from him. Hardin argues with her mom, Carol, about whether he's good for Tessa's life and how he always abandons her.
Still, Hardin, along with Landon, attends Richard's funeral to support Tessa. A couple days, Hardin and Tessa go to a dinner hosted by Hardin's dad, Ken, and Landon's mom, Karen, along with Landon and his friend, Nora, to say farewell to Landon as he moves to New York for school, where Nora also lives. After dinner, Tessa brings Hardin outside to talk. She tells him they need time apart to heal from their recent family developments and she's decided to leave Vance Publishing to move to New York with Landon. Hardin is hurt by the bombshell and nearly hits Landon out of rage for not telling him, but Landon reminds him he is also Tessa's friend as much as Hardin is his brother. Tessa gives Hardin an ultimatum that if he loves her, he'll not follow her to New York and let them have their time apart to which he reluctantly agrees to.
Tessa moves in with Landon and starts working with Nora at a fancy restaurant and Hardin starts going to AA and graduates university. Months later, Hardin comes to New York for work and Landon offers to host him. Tessa takes double shifts to avoid Hardin, but he stays till she's off and they talk about how they've been; Hardin now being sober and Tessa waiting to get accepted into NYU. Over the next couple days, they spend some time together, slowly reconnecting, during which Landon starts a relationship with Nora, which the two congratulate him on. One night when Landon is at Nora's, Tessa and Hardin give in and have sex again. The next morning after Hardin leaves, Tessa finds a book in his bag, titled 'After', documenting their entire relationship. When Hardin returns, Tessa confronts him about the book, not wanting her life be published for everyone to see, but Hardin tells her there's already a bidding war for the book. He had read his journal during therapy and a publisher ended reading it and everything has escalated since. Tessa leaves, declaring their relationship officially over.
Some time later, Hardin's book has been named a 'Best-Times Seller'. With not many friends at school and Landon having moved in with Nora, Tessa reaches out to Robert, Nora's friend who she had met awhile ago, for company. That night, Tessa eavesdrops in on a book signing hosted by Hardin where he tells the crowd his journey after meeting Tessa. Hardin catches a glimpse of Tessa as she leaves.
Cast
* Josephine Langford as Tessa Young
* Hero Fiennes Tiffin as Hardin Scott
* Louise Lombard as Trish Daniels
* Rob Estes as Ken Scott
* Arielle Kebbel as Kimberley
* Chance Perdomo as Landon Gibson
* Frances Turner as Karen Scott
* Kiana Madeira as Nora
* Carter Jenkins as Robert
* Stephen Moyer as Christian Vance
* Mira Sorvino as Carol Young
Production
Development
In September 2020, a feature film adaptation of 'After Ever Happy' was announced to be in development. Developed at the same time as 'After We Fell', the films were announced to be directed by Castille Landon with Sharon Soboil serving as a screenwriter. Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin were confirmed to reprise their roles as Tessa Young and Hardin Scott, respectively.Filming
The film entered pre-production in September 2020, prior to the release of 'After We Collided'. Principal photography took place, back-to-back with 'After We Fell'. In December 2021, Louise Lombard, Kiana Madeira, Chance Perdomo, Rob Estes, and Carter Jenkins were confirmed to have reprised their roles from previous movies. The first teaser trailer was released in December 2021.Photography took place in Bulgaria and wrapped production in December 2020. Landon stated that the novel series' realistic analysis of love, drew her to join the production, stating that her intent while directing the projects was to show that "romance isn't always beautiful". During production, the cast worked closely together and stayed in a hotel in a more isolated manner, while cameras weren't rolling, due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and protocols.
Release
'After Ever Happy' was released in the United States on September 7, 2022. Netflix will reportedly handle distribution, after successfully handling the international release of the previous movie.
Sequel
In August 2022, it was announced that production had commenced on a secret sequel to 'After Ever Happy'. Though not much was revealed, it was stated that principal photography had recently wrapped and that the official title will be 'After Everything'. Langford and Fiennes Tiffin will reprise their roles as Tessa Young and Hardin Scott, respectively. It is intended to be the fifth film in the series.
References
Buy After Ever Happy now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 2022