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Common sense media reviewers.

Predictable college-set adaptation has partying, sex.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Peers, including friends and romantic partners, ca

Tessa stands up for herself in social situations,

Tessa and Hardin are shown in progressively more i

A use of "s--t," plus "hell," "damn." Mouthed but

One mention of The Gap.

College-age characters drink beer and hard liquor,

Parents need to know that After -- a college-set romance based on Anna Todd's best-selling novel -- deals frankly with sex. Despite a lack of actual nudity, several scenes feel very sexually explicit and include kissing, intimate touching, implied oral sex, and the loss of virginity. But the main characters …

Positive Messages

Peers, including friends and romantic partners, can be cruel to one another, but deeper relationships are shown to last. Teens can learn that being mean doesn't feel good. College is portrayed as a time of experimentation, self-discovery. Peer pressure -- to party, play drinking games, break rules, skip class, get a tattoo, etc. -- is seen as inevitable but surmountable. Characters show it's cool -- even attractive -- to read books.

Positive Role Models

Tessa stands up for herself in social situations, doesn't shy away from intellectual arguments in class. She insists that her mother trust her to make good decisions when she moves away to college. Families are mostly flawed or broken, forcing young adults to face lingering childhood scars, unrealistic parental expectations. Characters give each other second chances after they make hurtful mistakes. Tessa's female friends prove untrustworthy. Hardin, others drink to escape problems.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Tessa and Hardin are shown in progressively more intimate scenes: light to heavy kissing and touching, swimming/bathing together, implied oral sex, Tessa's first time having sex. Hardin confirms Tessa is sure before opening condom; focus is on Tessa's face. Two characters kiss, undress each other in bed, with Tessa awake in same dorm room. No characters shown in less than underwear. All sexual scenes are consensual.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

A use of "s--t," plus "hell," "damn." Mouthed but unspoken use of "f--k."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Drinking, drugs & smoking.

College-age characters drink beer and hard liquor, sometimes to point of getting drunk; they also smoke, vape. "Weed" is mentioned. Tessa is offered, even pressured to drink and smoke at parties. Tessa's roommate seems to party most weeknights; she hangs out with a rougher crowd. Hardin gets drunk, leaves trail of broken glass in his home when he feels jealous.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that After -- a college-set romance based on Anna Todd's best-selling novel -- deals frankly with sex. Despite a lack of actual nudity, several scenes feel very sexually explicit and include kissing, intimate touching, implied oral sex, and the loss of virginity. But the main characters (played by Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes Tiffin) don't rush into sex despite their intense attraction, and all scenes are consensual. There's both same-sex and opposite-sex kissing. Parents are portrayed as struggling to overcome flaws themselves, including alcoholism and broken marriages. Partying, with alcohol and drugs, is depicted as a fact of college life. Infrequent swearing includes a use of "s--t." Teens may pick up positive messages about love and friendship, but they could also walk away with superficial notions of romance and college life. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (60)
• Kids say (160)

Based on 60 parent reviews

Good overall film

What's the story.

AFTER begins on the day that Tessa Young (Josephine Langford) is leaving home for college. Her mother, Carol (Selma Blair), is struggling to let go, especially when she meets her daughter's partying dorm roommate, but she's reassured because Tessa has always been responsible and hardworking. Tessa has also had the same boyfriend since she was a kid -- but that changes when she meets handsome, British-accented, poetry-reciting rebel Hardin Scott (Hero Fiennes Tiffin). The pair are set up in a Truth or Dare challenge at a raucous college party where the straitlaced Tessa feels woefully out of place. They bond, and then spar over their readings of classic novels. The more Tessa falls for Hardin and starts letting go of her rules and exploring her own desire, the more her structured world begins falling apart.

Is It Any Good?

Despite a predictable storyline and clichéd romance, After works, thanks in large part to the heartfelt performance of its young star, Josephine Langford. As Tessa, Langford appears in almost every scene, and with the camera regularly close in on her face, she conveys a sincere mix of self-restraint and hunger for new experiences, confidence and fragility. She's a credible college first-year student, and we believe her and feel for her as a young woman falling in love for the first time. What comes off as less authentic is the story's Pride and Prejudice -inspired romance, based on the cult One Direction fan fiction published by author Anna Todd on the site Wattpad and later as a book series.

The tale requires that Hardin appear to be both Tessa's opposite -- brooding, experienced, and rebellious, despite his father's top university post and wealth -- and also her equally vulnerable soulmate. Tiffin has the budding charisma and looks (he is a Fiennes, after all) to play the romantic lead, but his character here is contrived mostly as a device for Tessa's evolution. After is likely to attract a heavily female audience, but it could struggle to find its market. More mature viewers might find it too formulaic, while parents may keep younger teens away because of the explicit content.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about whether After offers a realistic portrayal of college life, and what high schoolers can expect when they go to college themselves. What are you looking forward to? What makes you nervous? How do you think this compares to other movies about college?

For those who've read Todd's book, what did the film change about the characters, story, and setting? What's your opinion about those changes?

How did you feel when you found out Tessa's friends had deceived her? Have you ever experienced or done something similar? What were the consequences?

Tessa faces a lot of peer pressure. What are some strategies she uses to avoid doing things she doesn't feel comfortable with? How do you handle peer pressure?

How does the movie depict sex ? Is it different from how you've seen it portrayed in other movies? Parents, talk to your teens about your own values regarding sex and relationships.

Movie Details

• In theaters : April 12, 2019
• On DVD or streaming : July 9, 2019
• Cast : Josephine Langford , Hero Fiennes Tiffin , Selma Blair
• Director : Jenny Gage
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Aviron Pictures
• Genre : Romance
• Topics : Book Characters
• Run time : 106 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : sexual content and some college partying
• Last updated : April 13, 2024

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, after we collided.

Now streaming on:

“After,” the adaptation of the first book in Anna Todd ’s series of novels chronicling the ups-and-downs of a passionate romance between an innocent young woman and the smooth-chested bad boy who unexpectedly swept her off her feet (among other things), was one of last year’s very worst films—it took me no less than three attempts to get to the end when I finally caught up with it and watching terrible movies is a professional skill of mine. That said, at least its flaws were of the run-of-the-mill variety—dull characters, insipid plotting, and a complete lack of chemistry between the two leads—and it could have even been argued that part of the problem was that I was not exactly the target audience for a story that evidently began as One Direction fan-fiction. And yet, as bad as it was, it comes across as borderline competent in the memory when compared to the follow-up, “After We Collided,” a film so lazy and inane that it feels as contemptuous towards its audience as I am towards it.

For those of you who somehow managed to miss “After,” it recounted the story of Tessa Young ( Josephine Langford ), the bookish and repressed daughter of an overbearing mother ( Selma Blair ). At college, Tessa quickly found herself in the thrall of Hardin Scott ( Hero Fiennes Tiffin ), the campus Lothario whose bad-boy exterior masked a tortured soul that only she could properly nurture. Viewers watched the progression, for lack of a better word, of their relationship—with older ones quizzically noting the presence of such familiar faces as Blair, Peter Gallagher , and Jennifer Beals in brief throwaway roles along the way—before coming to the shocking climactic revelation that Hardin’s wooing of Tessa was the result of a dare. This caused her to dump him, sensibly enough, but the final moments of the film suggested that there might be a happy ending for them after all.

As it turns out, that optimistic conclusion was merely a figment of Hardin’s imagination and when we first see him, a month after the events of the first film, he is filling his days drinking, getting tattoos and pining for his lost love. As for Tessa, she has a slightly stronger rebound as she begins her new job as an intern reading manuscripts for a publishing company and manages to find the next mega-seller, is taken along by her boss for a wild night partying with investors (including a fancy new dress and hotel suite on the company dime) and makes goo-goo eyes with shy-but-hunky accountant Trevor ( Dylan Sprouse ), all within her first 24 hours of employment. Nevertheless, her feelings for Hardin are still there, and when his mother ( Louise Lombard ) arrives from England under the assumption that they are still together (don’t ask), she agrees to play along. This leads to an endless string of scenes that alternate between the two indulging in bouts of what a far wiser man once referred to as “rumpy-pumpy” and fighting over issues that could have easily been cleared up if they did not collectively possess the IQ of a crouton.

Along the way, Hardin’s Tortured Past comes back into play and rears its ugly head when he, along with Tessa and his mom, attends the fancy Christmas party thrown by his rich and estranged father ( Rob Estes ) and new stepmother ( Karimah Westbrook ), making a drunken spectacle of himself. The details of what transpires are forgettable (the film certainly has no real use for them) but those who saw the first film may be too distracted to notice because the roles of the father and stepmother were the ones played by Gallagher and Beals the first time around and who somehow managed to escape any involvement here—presumably by constructing and flying a homemade hot-air balloon to freedom. This is especially odd because Selma Blair is still around for a turn even briefer and more pointless than before. Her continued presence can only be explained in one of two ways—either her co-stars neglected to tell her of the balloon launch or she decided out of misguided loyalty towards director Roger Kumble , with whom she worked on the infinitely superior and thematically similar “ Cruel Intentions ” (1999).

So what is it about “After We Collided” that makes it bad? For starters, there is literally no story to be had in the screenplay (co-written by Todd), just a series of tedious incidents in a relationship, for lack of a better word, that somehow manage to come across as both startlingly toxic and completely innocuous. The two central characters are even duller and less appealing than before, and things are not helped by the complete lack of chemistry between them. Most hilariously, the film attempts to shake the original’s PG-13 origins by venturing into R-rated territory in the most inept ways possible—the script drops F-bombs with all the grace and subtlety of a 10-year-old boy who has just learned it, and the sex scenes are infused with the kind of heat that, if the movie were an oven, you would be checking the pilot light.

Too moronic to work as a serious romantic drama and too boring to work as straightforward sleaze, “After We Collided” is a film so dumb I fear that some may be tempted to look it up to see just how bad it really is. Instead of doing that, may I suggest that you instead seek out “ The Souvenir ” (2019), Joanna Hogg ’s deeply felt depiction of a passionate-but-toxic relationship that was one of last year’s very best films and one that will stick with you long after it has ended. By comparison, all you will feel at the conclusion of this movie, besides a momentary burst of relief, is a sense of dread over the fact that this saga will apparently include two more installments before it concludes. Then again, maybe we will luck out and that will prove to be nothing more than a dream as well.

Peter Sobczynski

A moderately insightful critic, full-on Swiftie and all-around  bon vivant , Peter Sobczynski, in addition to his work at this site, is also a contributor to The Spool and can be heard weekly discussing new Blu-Ray releases on the Movie Madness podcast on the Now Playing network.

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Film credits.

After We Collided (2020)

Rated R for sexual content, language throughout and some drug material.

105 minutes

Josephine Langford as Tessa Young

Hero Fiennes Tiffin as Hardin Scott

Shane Paul McGhie as Landon Gibson

Dylan Sprouse as Trevor Matthews

Samuel Larsen as Zed Evans

Inanna Sarkis as Molly Samuels

• Roger Kumble

Writer (based on the novel by)

• Mario Celaya

Cinematographer

• Larry Reibman
• Anita Brandt-Burgoyne
• Justin Caine Burnett

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After Movie Family Tree: Tessa & Hardin's Relatives Explained

Where was after everything filmed, denzel washington's new movie revives a 3-film trend that's never been great for his box office.

• The After series movies have been both successful and controversial, with strong differences in opinions between audiences and critics.
• The fifth movie, After Everything, breaks the formula by focusing on Hardin's point of view and delving into his backstory, providing a better understanding of his character.
• The first movie, After, sets up an intense relationship between Tessa and Hardin, but lacks strong drama and character development, with the chemistry between the leads being the standout element.

The After movie series has grown quickly, with five movies being released in just as many years, but the After series movies aren't all that consistent. Based on Anna Todd's novel series of the same name, the After movies follow the tumultuous relationship of studious Tessa Young (Josephine Langford) and rebellious Hardin Scott (Hero Fiennes Tiffin). The two young lovers must endure opposition from friends, diverting lives, and endless familial drama. Despite their attraction, their relationship is full of problems; Tessa struggles to trust Hardin, while Hardin has trouble reforming his own belligerence.

The After series movies have been so successful that a fifth movie ( After Everything ) about Tessa and Hardin's relationship was released despite there only being four books about the same era. However, audiences and critics have strongly different opinions on the After series . Despite poor reviews, audiences have continued to enjoy Tessa and Hardin’s story — the first film, After , received a Teen Choice Award in 2019. There's a lot of disparity concerning the After movie series, which provokes the question: which of the After series movies are the best, and which are the worst?

The After franchise has become really popular, but with all of the characters constantly changing, it can be confusing to remember who’s who.

5 After Ever Happy (2022)

While the straight-laced Tessa falling in love with the rebellious Hardin was the original movie's appeal, it got stale by the third movie, and the fourth in the series doubles down on that. After Ever Happy continues exactly the same formula, as Hardin acts like a bad boy once again, even though he seemingly learned the error of his ways in the previous film. While After Ever Happy breaks the formula by ending with the two characters breaking up, even that plot twist had already been done in the first of the After series movies. After Ever Happy is the worst of the After movies because it doesn't take the formula the movies have established and give the audience anything new . However, the film's heartbreaking ending still has some impact given that there are four films worth of history between them. The movie makes for one of the starkest contrasts between critics and fans though. The movie has a 0% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes (from only six reviews), but a 92% from audience members.

Watch on Netflix

4 After We Fell (2021)

The series’ third installment, After We Fell , has neither a coherent nor compelling plot. For the majority of the runtime, a single issue persists: Hardin is enraged by Tessa’s decision to move to Seattle for her new job. While the couple deals with Hardin’s anger issues, a handful of disjointed story threads occur: they meet Tessa’s long-lost father, Hardin’s mother gets remarried, and, in an unfounded twist, Hardin discovers who his real father is. After We Fell's cast and characters are misused; Tessa especially lacks any kind of purpose in the movie, while Hardin has lost the humility he learned over the previous two films. This chapter of the After stories simply tries to do too much in a compressed time period and it results in the movie in which the characters get the least depth.

3 After Everything (2023)

The fifth of the After movies is After Everything , and it breaks the formula just a bit . The movie provides the audience with Hardin's point of view entirely. It focuses on the time period after he and Tessa go their separate ways because she feels betrayed by him using their romance as the story for his debut novel. With Hardin having spent all the movies in the After series going back and forth as a bad boy who just can't help himself and a sympathetic love interest, this movie gives the audience a better window into his head. It makes it appear that Hardin genuinely is trying to be a better person, expands more on his backstory before meeting Tessa, and is also set in the gorgeous Portugal for the bulk of the movie. The middle of the movie where Hardin reconnects with a woman from his past that he wronged, is where the movie really works. The ending is slightly rushed, but it's still a better After movie than the third and fourth installments.

After Everything is the fifth installment in the After franchise, and it continues Tessa and Hardin's love story. Where was the movie filmed?

2 After (2019)

For the beginning of such an intense relationship, After is relatively unremarkable. While After changes book elements for the better, it lacks strong drama. The film’s opening act is solid, establishing Tessa as a sheltered woman whose attraction to Hardin goes against her base principles. Unfortunately, the rest of the film fails to provide any particular appeal. While the chemistry between Tessa and Hardin grows significantly by the end, both characters remain fairly undeveloped. The film's climactic twist falls short of its intended impact; by keeping the dare that started their relationship a secret, the build-up to their break-up is weakened. However, Langford’s performance shines as After 's sole spark.

A prequel to the After movies focusing on Hardin's life before Tessa, and a sequel to the movies focusing on the next generation, are both in development.

1 After We Collided (2020)

After We Collided sees Dylan Sprouse in a refreshingly straight-laced role as he's introduced as a potential love interest for Tessa. This sequel takes place one month after the first film’s break-up, and After We Collided makes for the best After movie . Tessa excels at her internship at a publishing company, while Hardin punishes himself for his deceit. The pair reunite, and Hardin confronts his past trauma that stunts their compatibility. The movie switches up the format, becoming a scandalous romantic comedy. After We Collided has an enjoyable, though confused, mix of extreme drama and light laughs. Though the plot is badly paced and falls apart at the climax, the film provides an engaging look into a wild romance and is by far the best After series movie.

• After (2019)

'Aftersun' review: This is the best film of the year by a first time writer-director

"Aftersun" debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and left a lasting impression.

I've been thinking about "Aftersun" since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Now it's in theaters where no excuses will be accepted for you missing it. This is the best film of the year by a first time writer-director.

The Scottish newbie is Charlotte Wells, 35, and her debut is a cause for celebration. Don't expect sexual shocks or show-off effects. For Wells, the territory of the human heart is all she needs to keep us smiling, nodding in recognition and then fighting back tears.

"Aftersun" is a father-daughter story, based on Wells' life as a young girl on vacation with her dad. The time is the late 1990s when the Walkman and karaoke held sway. The place is a budget beach resort in Turkey far from Scotland where dad left her and mom to live in London.

Looking to spend time with each other, 11-year-old Sophie (knockout newcomer Frankie Corio) and her father Calum (Paul Mescal) make memories with a camcorder that the grown and queer Sophie (Celia Rowlson-Hall), now a parent, reflects on with sweetness and regret.

Delicate business is being transacted in this place where meaning is found in exchanged looks and the space between words. Wells can distill a life in the way an agonized Calum -- with a cast on his forearm -- smokes silently on a balcony while his daughter sleeps or pretends to.

MORE: Review: 'Anatomy of a Scandal' features exhilirating performances

Wells suggests that Calum is now dead and Sophie, in a ghostly dance, is using her childhood memories to make sense of her father in her own adulthood. That's a tall order that Wells executes with powers of observation that filmmakers twice her age might envy.

There's the sight of Sophie negotiating the treacherous turning point between childhood and adolescence. Or Calum dancing alone, lost in a strobe-lit club. As dad tells daughter, "There's this feeling, once you leave where you're from, that you don't totally belong there again."

Sophie feels a sense of abandonment magnified later when Calum, a slave to his quicksilver moods, sends her on stage by herself to do a karaoke version of "Losing My Religion" that they had planned as a duet. Wells doesn't give us details, only the sorrow eating at this young father as he vainly tries to keep the best side of himself alive for Sophie.

This would be a good time to extol the brilliant, breathtaking, soul-deep performances of Mescal and Corio that represent acting at its truest and finest. Corio was cast after a Facebook call for unknowns. And what a genuine find she is.

MORE: Review: 'The Woman King is indelible and truly inspiring

The Irish Mescal, 26, who earned an Emmy nomination and sex symbol status opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones on Hulu's "Normal People," is an extraordinary actor, as witness to his excellence even in smaller roles in "God's Country" and "The Lost Daughter." In "Aftersun," he fills a complex role with disarming charm and elemental power.

The empathy that Wells and her actors invest in these characters gives "Aftersun" the capability to sneak up and floor you. Is the film too small for awards attention? Hardly. Last year, the mesmerizing miniature that was "CODA" took home the Best Picture Oscar.

One thing is for sure: you won't be able to get "Aftersun" out of your head and heart.

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The Gorgeous Melancholy of Aftersun

Calum is a young dad, young enough that when he’s out with 11-year-old Sophie (Francesca Corio), people assume that they’re siblings rather than a parent and child. Someone makes this mistake not long into Aftersun , and you half expect Calum to let it pass uncommented on, or to be embarrassed when he has to explain the truth. He is, after all, played by the irresistible Paul Mescal, prince of the charming, unreliable heartthrobs, and with his rumpled looks and empty pockets, he comes across as someone more at home carousing with his boys at the bar than periodically reapplying sunscreen to his daughter’s back to ensure that she doesn’t burn. And yet Calum, for all the other ways that things have not been working out the way he planned, is proud to announce that he’s Sophie’s father, and proud to be taking her on a vacation he can’t really afford to a discount beach resort in Turkey. Aftersun , the debut from Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells, is a dual portrait of a girl on the cusp of adolescence and a young man feeling adrift in adulthood, and it’s a work of masterful and almost unbearable melancholy.

It’s one of the best movies of the year, though it damn well makes you work for it, with Wells taking such a deliberately oblique approach to her premise that it at first comes across more as an affectation than as subtlety. Aftersun is made up almost entirely of the trip in question, which, we soon grasp, took place two decades ago, though it’s pointedly only Sophie, played as an adult by Celia Rowlson-Hall, who we get to see in flashes in the present day. It’s frequently Sophie who’s shooting the crummy digital video footage we periodically cut to, the lower resolution and artifacting as much a signpost of the era as the soundtrack, which is littered with late ‘90s detritus from the Lightning Seeds, Catatonia, and Aqua. She and Calum — who broke up with her mother years ago — turn the camera to the sun and the pool, but more often they point it at one another, and in the opening shot Sophie has trained the lens on her father in order to interview him, asking him if this is what he imagined he’d be doing when he was her age.

She doesn’t seem to realize how this question devastates him, though it becomes clear when the film returns to this moment later and shows it from the outside. Calum’s planned this holiday over his 31st birthday, which may not be a major milestone, but for someone who jokes about being surprised he made it to 30, represents a panicky forward trudge of time with little to show for it aside from the funny, self-assured daughter he doesn’t get to see much. But Calum’s depression remains an only half-glimpsed mystery, the shots of him reflected in a television screen and a coffee table surface serving as visual reminders of his elusive nature. There comes a moment when you start to actually comprehend your parents as people separate from yourself, ones whose lives stretched long before your arrival and contain vast unseen realms. Sophie, who’s played with such unaffected ease by Corio that she doesn’t seem to be acting at all, may not be there yet, not any more than she is one of the teenagers she hangs out with one evening. But she’s close enough to sense what she doesn’t yet know, in the same way that she playacts romance with a boy from the arcade after watching the older kids canoodle, the two sharing an tentative open-eyed kiss.

Tiny details like that have submerged but seismic resonances throughout Aftersun . That experimental peck is the start of years of exploration that will lead to Sophie, at 31 herself, to be in a relationship with a woman with whom she has a baby. A stack of books about meditation and tai chi are indications of Calum’s search for meaning. Calum left Scotland, where Sophie lives with her mother, for a life drifting around London, and when she asks him if he’ll ever move back, he gives her an answer that doubles as a description of his psychic state: “There’s this feeling, once you leave where you’re from, that you don’t totally belong there again.” In the closest this delicate film has to a pivotal sequence, Sophie puts their names on a list to sing karaoke in what’s clearly been a tradition for them before, though this time Calum’s not in the mood, and so Sophie goes up alone, her bravado fading as she slogs her solitary way through a rendition of “Losing My Religion.” Throughout Aftersun , Mescal is a marvel of boyish fun masking a deep streak of self-loathing he tries mightily to hide from his daughter, but in that sequence, as Sophie stands there discovering insecurity in real time, he’s easy to hate.

Neither could articulate why they’re so upset, though the night spirals from there, Calum leaving his daughter and getting drunk in an abdication of parental duties he’s otherwise proven himself devoted to. Aftersun isn’t a recreation of a memory, though the act of remembering is obviously at its core. Rather, it’s about trying to square the intimacy of being cared for as a child with the perspective that comes with being an adult. It’s about wanting to reach across time, and to meet a loved one in an impossible space where, for once, you’re both on the same level, and you can finally understand them for who they are — or who they were.

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‘Backspot’ Review: Cheer Squad Drama

This queer high school movie, starring Devery Jacobs and Evan Rachel Wood, channels an after-school special without the coming-out trauma.

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By Lisa Kennedy

The nonbinary director, D.W. Waterson, wanted to make the kind of film they wished they had seen growing up in a hockey-obsessed household in Canada. Which may explain why an earnest teen spirit seems to be alive and somersaulting in “Backspot,” a cheer squad tale offering plenty of life lessons.

A queer protagonist with pom-poms is not a cinematic first. (Remember the comedy “But I’m a Cheerleader”?) The double full twist with “Backspot” is that the writer, Joanne Sarazen, and Waterson (who edited and scored the film), don’t center the coming-of-age drama in coming-out trauma.

From the get-go, Riley (Devery Jacobs of “Reservation Dogs”) and her girlfriend, Amanda (Kudakwashe Rutendo), laugh, canoodle and walk to practice hand in hand. Being queer in high school is not where the movie’s lessons lie.

Instead, “Backspot” confronts mental health issues: Riley anxiously pulls out her eyebrows, has panic attacks and aches for the approval of Eileen (Evan Rachel Wood), her new coach. As the Thunderhawks’ trainer, Wood keeps her jawline taut chomping gum. Her implacable expression registers near-constant displeasure with her three eager new recruits: Riley, Amanda and Rachel (Noa DiBerto). After all, the team has only two weeks before the cheerleading championships!

Not unlike its protagonist, “Backspot” initially tries too hard to be worthy of the genre in which “ Bring It On ” still reigns supreme. But something shifts emotionally for the anxious teen, and for the film, when Riley finds Eileen’s assistant coach, Devon (Thomas Antony Olajide) side-gigging as a go-go dancer.

Its early execution strains and wobbles some, but “Backspot” sticks its landing.

Backspot Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 33 minutes. In theaters.

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AMC conducting review after 4 girls randomly stabbed inside Massachusetts movie theater

B RAINTREE – Movie theater chain AMC said it is conducting a "thorough review" after four girls were stabbed during an apparently random attack inside a Braintree theater.

Jared Ravizza , 26, is charged with the Saturday night attack at AMC Braintree 10. Police said Ravizza entered without paying and stabbed four young girls who were at the theater for a screening of "IF."

Ravizza also allegedly stabbed two people at a McDonald's in Plymouth about an hour later. He was arrested following a crash in Sandwich.

Mother says AMC employees did not react initially

Lisa Dembowski, the mother of three of the AMC stabbing victims, said employees initially did not take action after the girls reported the stabbing.

"They said they all went out, they told the people at AMC, the AMC didn't believe them, didn't do anything, actually, and they had to call the police themselves," Dembowski said.

AMC conducting "thorough review"

In a statement to WBZ-TV, AMC said it is reaching out to the involved families privately.

"At all of our locations, AMC has multiple security features and procedures in place, the specifics of which we do not disclose or discuss publicly," a spokesperson said. "We have already begun to conduct a thorough review of this incident. Based on theatre associate accounts and video footage, the theatre team jumped into action immediately, calling emergency services and administering aid to the victims."

According to AMC, there will be a visible security presence at the Braintree location "for the immediate future."

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'In a Violent Nature' Review: Eat Your Heart Out, Jason Voorhees

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The Big Picture

• In a Violent Nature is a unique and gruesome horror film.
• The film's formal approach and creative kills set it apart, with a focus on the killer and visceral moments.
• While it may be exhausting for some, those seeking hyper-violent horror will find it to be a bold and bloody ride.

This review was originally part of our coverage of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

You’ve never seen a horror film like writer-director Chris Nash’s In a Violent Nature . While it perhaps shares an eventually similar sense of madcap energy to other recent Shudder offerings like When Evil Lurks , its unique formal approach and gruesome kills put it in a class all its own. Where 2023 was a strong one for festival horror emerging as the year's best , with everything from birth/rebirth to Talk to Me leaving their mark on the genre long after their Sundance premieres, 2024 now has an early contender of its own with In a Violent Nature .

In a Violent Nature

The horror movie tracks a ravenous zombie creature as it makes its way through a secluded forest.

What Is 'In a Violent Nature' About?

The film opens with an extended shot of a pendant hanging from a pipe of some kind long consumed by rust in the middle of a dilapidated structure in the woods. It is the peaceful quiet before the bloody storm that is coming. We hear voices talking about inane nonsense before a hand reaches in and grabs the pendant. Big mistake. The voices wander away, though a rumbling begins to grow louder and louder under the ground before a hand bursts through. This is Johnny, embodied magnificently by actor Ry Barrett , a killing machine who has been awakened and is now about to tear through any who are unlucky enough to cross his path. Like Jason Vorhees of the Friday the 13th series, though somehow much meaner and smarter, he wanders methodically through the remote area, accumulating weapons that he’ll soon put to bloody use . His main targets end up being, of course, a group of unwitting horny and drunken teens whose vacation is soon to become an unrelenting nightmare.

In case it wasn’t already clear, In a Violent Nature is a slasher film in an almost classical sense . Everything plays out just as expected, with what feels like a bounty of references from Halloween to My Bloody Valentine and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre , with a few stumbles near the end. What makes it all hold together even as its characters come apart in bloody pieces is Nash’s commitment to a terrifyingly effective formal approach where we are almost always with the killer himself. Similar in some regards to Steven Soderbergh ’s Presence , even as that remains 100 percent committed to its POV where this switches it up a couple times, it is not about the material as much it is the method of conveying it. Save for some occasionally clunky dialogue that is used to fill in the gaps, which you forgive as almost part of a grand joke, considering how quickly those speaking it get killed, we are almost always with Johnny just unleashing havoc. The kills in this film are some of the most bonkers, bloody, and brutal you’ll ever see. It’s the type of film where you’ll go “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a decapitated head do that before” in both awe and terror. Some of it could seem disposable if you just read a synopsis, but it is the visceral approach that makes it a cut above. Just when you think it's run out of ways to obliterate the characters, it outdoes itself again with fearsome flair.

There is a good chance this could become exhausting to those less interested in hyper-violent horror where the gore is the main draw. However, for those who are looking for something that really pushes itself to bloody new heights, this is a full horror meal worth chowing down on. The narrative might not have much meat on the bone, but the rest of the film is never lacking for moments that get right up into the guts of its potential. There is one character who emerges as a protagonist of sorts in Kris, played by Andrea Pavlovic who has a strong commanding presence when the film needs her to, though she is an outlier. Most everyone else will show up just long enough to be killed. There are moments where it can show more restraint, like one killing in the water where we are tensely waiting in agony for the moment where Johnny will strike. When he does, the most chilling part is how quick and almost completely silent it all is, save for a few screams that are swallowed up by the uncaring sounds of nature echoing through the forest. Nash knows when to be bombastic and when to balance it with a lighter touch, ensuring each cuts deeper. It is grimly funny at times, though no less terrifying because of it. Everything compliments itself as we observe the beautiful forest being made into a hunting ground where there is nowhere you are safe for long .

'In a Violent Nature' Is a Bold and Bloody Ride

Though the ending is a little less confident than all that preceded it, lacking patience and spelling things out a bit too much when Pavlovic already speaks volumes with her focused performance, the overall ride is an enthralling one . The final shots leave a lingering sense of dread that is built upon the foundation that was built from the stacked bodies Johnny accumulated. In many regards, he is the star of the show, with one scene where we finally see his face while characters speculate far out of frame about his origins hammering this home. He never smiles for his closeup, but one can’t help grinning all the way through this gruesome horror picture with its delightfully audacious approach. Jason Voorhees better watch his back.

The latest from Shudder gives new life to the slasher film as writer-director Chris Nash leaves his own distinct mark on the horror genre.

• The film's formal conceit is terrifyingly executed and often grimly funny.
• It strikes a balance between bombast and a lighter touch, with each complimenting the other perfectly.
• Ry Barrett embodies the killer magnificently and Andrea Pavlovic gives the closest person we have to a protagonist some weight in her performance.
• The ending spells things out a bit too much, proving to be not quite as confident and patient as all the preceded it.

In a Violent Nature comes to theaters in the U.S. starting May 31. Click below for showtimes near you.

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After We Fell

Just as Tessa makes the biggest decision of her life, everything changes. Revelations about her family, and then Hardin's, throw everything they knew before in doubt and makes their hard-won... Read all Just as Tessa makes the biggest decision of her life, everything changes. Revelations about her family, and then Hardin's, throw everything they knew before in doubt and makes their hard-won future together more difficult to claim. Just as Tessa makes the biggest decision of her life, everything changes. Revelations about her family, and then Hardin's, throw everything they knew before in doubt and makes their hard-won future together more difficult to claim.

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• Trivia Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, After We Fell (2021) was shot back to back with the final film After Ever Happy (2022) in Sofia, (Bulgaria) as opposed to Atlanta, Georgia (USA) where the first 2 movies were filmed. Sofia was chosen due to low cases and was considered Covid safe at the time.
• Connections Featured in Amanda the Jedi Show: Movies that Destroyed and Restored my Faith in Humanity | Sundance 2022 (2022)
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Jennifer lopez’s ‘atlas’ defies bad reviews to debut big on netflix movie chart.

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Jennifer Lopez in "Atlas."

Lousy reviews didn’t stop viewers from streaming Jennifer Lopez’s new Netflix original movie Atlas in its debut over the weekend.

Directed by Brad Peyton ( Rampage , San Andreas ), Atlas is a futuristic tale about Atlas Shepherd (Lopez), a tech analyst who has led a guilt-ridden life after the death of her scientist mother when she was a child. Atlas’ mom invented an AI robot named Harlan (Simi Liu), who becomes self-aware and leads an AI revolt that leaves millions of people dead across the planet.

Escaping to another planet after the carnage, Harlan resurfaces 28 years later with a plan to annihilate Earth once and for all—so Atlas joins the mission to destroy the AI before it's too late.

According to the Netflix Global Top 10 Movies chart , Atlas had 28.2 million views from May 20-26, which equates to 56.3 million viewing hours in its first three days of release—enough for the film to top the streaming platform’s global list. Atlas was also No. 1 on the U.S. Top 10 Movies chart and finished in the Top 10 in 93 countries that have Netflix overall.

The strong debut of Atlas should take away the sting of the blistering reviews by Rotten Tomatoes critics, who to date have collectively given the film a 17% “rotten” rating based on 71 reviews. Netflix viewers remained neutral in their collective assessment of the film, bestowing a 51% Audience Score based on 500-plus verified user ratings.

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Atlas also stars Sterling K. Brown, Mark Strong and Lana Parilla.

Atlas replaces the Netflix original rom-com Mother of the Bride as the top title on the Netflix global movies chart, a ranking the film held onto for two consecutive weeks. Starring Brooke Shields and Benjamin Bratt, the Netflix original movie dropped to No. 4 on this week’s global chart with 9.3 million views, which translates to 14 million viewing hours.

Animated Family Movie Moves Up The Netflix Global Chart

Finishing at No. 2 on the Netflix Global Top 10 Movies chart is the animated musical comedy Thelma the Unicorn (10.7 million views/17.4 million viewing hours) after debuting at No. 4 last week.

The 2009 animated comedy Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs came in at No. 3 (9.5 million views/15.1 viewing hours) in its global chart debut, while the 2007 Shia LaBeouf crime thriller Disturbia finished at No 5. behind Mother of the Bride.

Disturbia had 8.1 million views, which equates to 14.1 million viewing hours.

Unlike previous weeks in May when Netflix released such high-profile films as Unfrosted , Mother of the Bride and Atlas , there are no big movie productions on this week’s list of films debuting on the streaming service.

Next week, however, will see another big release with the action crime comedy Hit Man , starring Top Gun: Maverick and Anyone but You star Glen Powell opposite Andor star Adria Arjona.

Hit Man is directed by Powell’s Everybody Wants Some!! director Richard Linklater, which is co-written by Powell and Linklater.

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‘Ezra’ Review: Bobby Cannavale Lets It Rip as a Dad Who Kidnaps His Autistic Son in Tony Goldwyn’s Not-Bad Hearttugger

Robert De Niro is the crusty grandfather in a film that has some formula twists but taps into the turmoil parents of special-needs children can feel.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

• ‘Ezra’ Review: Bobby Cannavale Lets It Rip as a Dad Who Kidnaps His Autistic Son in Tony Goldwyn’s Not-Bad Hearttugger 10 hours ago
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And that’s the least of his bad decisions. Slapped with a restraining order, which forbids him from seeing his son for three months, Max sneaks into Jenna’s house in the middle of the night and kidnaps Ezra, taking him on an impromptu road trip to Michigan. When the plan — not that it’s a plan, more of a desperation move from hell — is discovered, everyone from Jenna to Max’s crusty hellion of a father ( Robert De Niro ), whose home he’s been staying at, thinks what he’s doing is insane. And the audience isn’t given much of a reason to disagree.

There are a lot of issues to debate here (some are culture-war issues), and it’s to the credit of Tony Goldwyn, the director of “Ezra,” and the screenwriter, Tony Spiridakis, that the movie doesn’t approach those issues with a chip on its shoulder. It’s not saying that Max is right or Max is wrong. It’s saying that when you have a special-needs child, these sorts of feelings might rise up in you, and the fact that Max cultivates them into a decision that seems like a disaster is what seizes our interest. The burden of proof is now on him.

Bobby Cannavale is the kind of actor who can do “mouthy hothead” in his sleep, but in “Ezra” he gives a canny and layered performance. Max, with his burning eyes (in his standup act, he cultivates the aura of an assassin), looks out and sees a world of full of Karens, like the nightclub owner who tells him he shouldn’t be plopping his kid on a barstool to watch his midnight set (something she’s probably right about). And he keeps lashing out at them. But what’s driving him is the tangle of agony he feels at everything about his son: the fact of his autism, the impossibility of knowing how to make him feel more well-adjusted, and his frustration at dealing with an institutionalized system that’s far from perfect — though when have our society’s public education protocols ever been perfect? (And how could they be?)

As the film sees it, there’s no “right answer,” but the answer that Max has come up with is a trigger reaction from the heart and the gut: He needs to be with his son. Not just to exist with him but to be with him. The movie is about Max and Ezra figuring out what that is, and newcomer William A. Fitzgerald, with his shy gopher grin, gives a performance that’s alive with discovery. He shows you Ezra’s blinkered reactions, the savant-like overawareness that shines through them, and the soul of affection that’s buried beneath them.

I wish I could say that these two found redemption in an awesomely organic and spontaneous way. But where a film like “Rain Man,” while a big studio blockbuster, presented the interaction between Dustin Hoffman’s gnarled, solipsistic, numbers-fixated Raymond and Tom Cruise’s smooth yuppie Charlie as a slow-growing exploration of human connection, the plot of “Ezra” is actually far more dependent on Hollywood devices.

They’re all headed to Los Angeles and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” which has booked Max for a spot (after Jimmy saw a tape of Max having a meltdown over Ezra in the middle of a set). The film itself seems to be heading for a hearttugger of an ending, and it is, though not the one you’re expecting. I guess today that passes for indie integrity. But the underlying integrity of “Ezra,” what makes it an honest film despite some formula devices, is that its message about how to help children with special needs is that there’s no magic way. Beyond celebrating them for who they are and showing them who you are.

Reviewed online, May 28, 2024. MPA rating: R. Running time: 100 MIN.

• Production: A Bleecker Street Media release of a Closer Media, Wayfarer Studios production. Producers: William Horberg, Jon Kilik, Tony Goldwyn, Tony Spiridakis. Executive producers: Zhang Xin, Justin Baldoni, Steve Sarowitz, Andrew Calof, Jamey Heath, Manu Gargi, Robert De Niro, Bobby Cannavale, Carla Raij, Richard Lewis, Bob Xu, Lois Robbins.
• Crew: Director: Tony Goldwyn. Screenplay: Tony Spiridakis. Camera: Danny Moder. Editor: Sabine Hoffman. Music: Carlos Rafael Rivera.
• With: Bobby Cannavale, William A. Fitzgerald, Rose Byrne, Robert De Niro, Vera Farmiga, Whoopi Goldberg, Rainn Wilson, Tony Goldwyn.

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