‘After’ on Netflix: Once a One Direction Fanfiction on Wattpad, Now a Popular Feature Film

Every few years, the world seems to forget about horny teenage girls. They are a formidable force, not to be underestimated, and yet time, and time again we act surprised when they flex their collective muscles. Case in point: Twilight, and by extension, 50 Shades of Grey, a cultural phenomenon that would never have been possible without them. Now they’re at it again with the movie After, a 2019 teen romance that is now streaming on Netflix.

For those out of the loop, After is an adaptation of Anna Todd’s bestselling book series of the same name. The five-book series (After, After We Collided, After We Fell, After Ever Happy, Before) was first published not as novels at Simon & Schuster, but as One Direction fanfiction on Wattpad, which Todd wrote on her phone when she was 24. Wattpad is a website where writers can post their work for readers to consume for free, and in return, readers can leave comments alongside the text as they read. Todd’s story followed an original character named Tessa Young, an 18-year-old college freshman, who falls into a torrid romance with Harry Styles, but an “alternate universe” of Harry Styles, in where the One Direction singer is just a regular guy in college. Though this Harry Styles looked and sounded like the musician, he didn’t much resemble him in personality. This Harry was a manipulative, brooding bad boy, and he pulled Tessa into a world of drinking, sex, and a general vibe of emo-ness.

Anyone familiar with fanfiction knows the above trope-heavy story is a staple of any fandom. It’s not dissimilar to the Draco Malfoy-focused romance “My Immortal,” a Harry Potter fanfiction that’s widely regarded as the worst fanfiction ever written, or to Fifty Shades of Grey, E.L. James’s bestseller that began as a Twilight fanfiction about Edward and Bella. The world may forget about horny teenage girls, but fandom never does. Fandom is horny teenage girls, and collectively they provide each other with the stories they want to see. (Obviously, there are plenty of people in fandom who are neither horny, a teenager, or a girl, but I maintain that that is the general vibe of the experience.)

It shouldn’t be a surprise then, that After blew up on Wattpad. By the time Todd finished uploading all 295 chapters, the story had been read over one million times. Some dedicated fans even made videos for the fanfiction and began roleplaying as Tessa and Harry on Twitter. As Todd told The Atlantic in a 2018 profile, “I was like, ‘Holy shit.'” For the book series version, Harry Style’s name was changed to Hardin Scott, and though the original is still available for free, it became a New York Times bestseller and nabbed a feature film deal with the relatively new Aviron Pictures, with Todd as a co-producer.

In the film, Josephine Langford (younger sister of Katherin Langford) stars as Tessa and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (nephew of Ralph Fiennes) stars as Hardin. Cruel Intentions star Selma Blair also appears as Tessa’s mother, Carol Young, and other cast members include Khadijha Red Thunder, Shane Paul McGhie, Samuel Larsen, and Inanna Sarkis. The film was directed by Jenny Gage, who also adapted the script along with Susan McMartin and Tamara Chestna. And like the book, the film was a hit; it grossed $69.5 million at the worldwide box office against a $14 million production budget. Unsurprisingly, a sequel based on the second book, After We Collided, is underway with Langford and Fiennes-Tiffin return to the lead roles, and Disney Channel’s Dylan Sprouse coming on board to play a character named Trevor. Cruel Intentions director Roger Kumble will direct.

Now it’s on Netflix for your viewing convenience. And that’s not the only Wattpad-story-turned-feature-film you can watch on the streaming service. The Kissing Booth, the popular rom-com starring Joey King and Jacob Elordi, was also a Wattpad story once, written by a 15-year-old. Teen girls, man. We really gotta stop underestimating them.

Where to stream After