WMS

After We Collided

2020 · Directed by Roger Kumble

🧘4

Woke Score

14

Critic

🍿44

Audience

Ultra Based

Critics rated this 10 points above its woke score. Among Ultra Based films, this critic score ranks #1465 of 1469.

Consciousness MeterUltra Based
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Synopsis

Tessa finds herself struggling with her complicated relationship with Hardin; she faces a dilemma that could change their lives forever.

Consciousness Assessment

After We Collided arrives as a straightforward romantic drama with minimal engagement in contemporary progressive social consciousness. The film adapts material originating from Wattpad, a platform known for user-generated content without particular ideological commitments, and the adaptation maintains this neutrality with admirable consistency. The cast includes actors of varying ethnic backgrounds in supporting roles, though their presence functions as simple demographic representation rather than any deeper engagement with racial consciousness or cultural awareness.

The narrative itself focuses almost exclusively on the dysfunctional romance between its two leads, a relationship widely characterized by observers as containing controlling and emotionally manipulative elements. Notably, the film does not interrogate these dynamics or position them as problematic within its own framework; instead, it presents them as central to the romantic tension. There is no lecture energy, no attempt at social critique, no feminist reexamination of power imbalances. The female protagonist makes choices within her relationship, but the film does not mobilize these choices toward any larger statement about gender, autonomy, or social structures.

The production operates in a zone of calculated entertainment divorced from any apparent interest in cultural commentary, identity politics, or progressive messaging. This is neither damning nor praiseworthy; it is simply the film's nature. One views it as one might view a competent piece of commercial cinema designed to satisfy a specific audience expecting familiar beats and emotional escalation. The absence of progressive sensibilities is not itself noteworthy, but it does explain the modest woke score, which reflects the film's deliberate avoidance of the thematic territory in question.

Analysis generated by our Consciousness Algorithm

Critic Reviews

14%from 4 reviews
The A.V. Club50

After We Collided is too invested in its central couple to know what to do with its new romantic rival. Which is a shame because Sprouse turns in one of the film’s livelier performances.

Caroline SiedeRead Full Review →
Screen Rant50

After We Collided is riddled with cliches and tired young adult tropes, but its dramatic romance and laughable dialogue offers some escapist fun.

Molly FreemanRead Full Review →
RogerEbert.com12

A film so lazy and inane that it feels as contemptuous towards its audience as I am towards it.

Peter SobczynskiRead Full Review →
Variety0

“After” was merely awful. After We Collided is atrocious. Naturally, it’s proving an enormous pandemic-era hit.

Jessica KiangRead Full Review →