After.Life (2010)
"After.Life" tells the story of Anna, who after a horrific car accident, wakes up to find the local funeral director Eliot Deacon preparing her body for her funeral. Confused, terrified and feeling still very much alive, Anna doesn't believe she's dead, despite the funeral director's reassurances that she is merely in transition to the afterlife. While lacking in execution, Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo's "After.Life" is a smart, dark and twisted story, that forces you to think and guess while watching it. It's actually so smart, you might struggle to figure it all out, and you'll find yourself think even harder, after you leave the theater. The point of "After.Life" is to provoke conversations and debates, and it certainly succeeds. Much of the clues they put in the movie were illogical and misleading, but they were there for just that reason - to make you wonder if Eliot Deacon was a crazy psycho killer, or if he really could talk to dead people; and to make you question, if Anna Taylor was actually dead or alive?! Another important question concerned is "Do we really deserve this life?", as most of the people just waste away their days on monotonous and pleasureless tasks, and don't spend enough time with people they love care for, and things they like to do. The acting in "After.Life" was top-notch. Liam Neeson did a good job as the funeral director, and Christina Ricci was excllent in her role as the terrified and largely confused Anna. Justin Long gave his all as Paul - he acted with such care and passion, and showed so much emotion, he managed to outshine both Liam Neeson and Christina Ricci. Technically, "After.Life" was nothing special. The atmosphere was mysterious and creepy, but the low budget was noticable, at times obvious, and the CGI effects, while minimally used, looked poor and cheap. Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo's direction was average at best. Perhaps in different hands, this film might have been a masterpiece. Although, it has its flaws, "After.Life" is nicely-acted, smartly-scripted, unpredictable and thought-provoking psychological thriller, that will tease your brain. Solve this mysterious puzzle yourself!
- My Rating: 6.50/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 26% (4.5/10)
- IMDb: 6.4/10
2 comments:
While there is enough interesting material in the story to pique my interest, I think that the trailer for this film is pretty sloppy. It looks to be a sort of paranormal thriller, but most of the footage is of Ricci running around with a butcher’s knife, which falls into the traditional slasher category of horror.
I've never seen the trailer for this one, Jaccsy, but I trust you 100% for saying it was misleading. I wish it was directed by some better director.. I could have been sensational.
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