After Plot Synopsis
The 2019 movie After is the first of a five-part movie series. It narrates the story of a young college freshman student, Theresa ‘Tessa’ Young who is an English Lit graduate. Her love for romance novels causes her to clash with her roommate – Stef’s friend Hardin Scott. Hardin is someone who does not believe that love exists and the two have several clashes during class. Despite their clashes, Tessa is drawn to Hardin. Tessa has a boyfriend – Noah who is a high school senior but once she meets Hardin, she is not able to draw the line and ends up going to see Hardin when he needs help, leaving Noah in her dorm room all by himself.
How does Tessa’s Mom react to seeing she is with Hardin?
After Tessa has broken up with Noah, she starts dating Hardin. The relationship between the two is flirtatious and the couple has a fun time together. One day, Tessa’s mother, Carol finds Tessa making out with Hardin in her college dorm. Tessa’s mother states that she was ruining her life being with a guy like Hardin. She is upset about what her mother said and hits back at Carol. In order to teach Tessa a lesson, Carol cuts Tessa off and warns her against Hardin.
What does Hardin suggest to help Tessa?
Learning that Tessa had been financially cut off, Hardin takes Tessa to an apartment that he claims belongs to someone he knows. He tells her that they could live there because Tessa would not be able to financially afford to live in the dorms. Tessa is hesitant at first but eventually agrees to move in with Hardin.
How does Tessa find out about the bet?
Tessa and Hardin had been going pretty strong when one day Molly suggests that Hardin was lying to Tessa. Tessa ignores the warning but one day, she finds texts on Hardin’s phone from Molly. In the texts, Molly had threatened to tell Tessa the secret and had asked Hardin to meet the friends at their usual hangout diner. Tessa follows Hardin to the diner and learns from Molly that Hardin’s friends had challenged him to a bet involving Tessa. After the first party when Tessa was dared to kiss Hardin, Molly and the others made a bet with Hardin daring him to make Tessa fall in love with her. After watching a video about Hardin making the bet, Tessa is heartbroken and wants nothing to do with him. She breaks things off with Hardin and leaves him without hearing his explanation.
What does Tessa do at the end of After?
Now that Tessa had nowhere to go but the apartment she shared with Hardin, Tessa goes to Landon’s house and crashes there for a while. After a few days, Tessa goes back to her mother’s house and apologises to Carol for not trusting her when she had asked her to stay away from Hardin. Tessa apologises to Noah for cheating on him and the two reconcile as friends.
What was written in Hardin’s letter to Tessa?
Once Tessa is back at the University for finals, the Literature Professor gives Tessa Hardin’s assignment. She claims that the essay was mostly directed to Tessa and was something that she needed to read. Tessa goes to the secret spot Hardin had taken her to and reads the letter. Within this letter, Hardin apologizes to Tessa for lying to her and not treating her right when they were together. Hardin had also confessed that despite being a bet, he had actually fallen in love with Tessa over the course of their relationship. Hardin explains how important Tessa was to her and mentions that she had changed his life just by being with him. After ends with Tessa waiting by the lake all by herself as she imagines Hardin sitting next to her after she has finished reading the letter.
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