After.Life (limited)
| release date | April 9 2010 |
| studio | Anchor Bay Entertainment |
| director | Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo |
| writer | Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo, Paul Vosloo |
| starring | Christina Ricci, Liam Neeson, Alfred Molina, Justin Long, Josh Charles, Chandler Canterbury |
| rating | R |
| tagline | How can you save yourself if you're already dead? |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
0 Comments
Just finished watching it. This is one of the best movies ive seen in awhile. It was just mind blowing of how once someone dies, of what happens afterwards. Bravo.
entertaining film. In the hands of a more seasoned director could of been very good.
FUCKING WOW.
All I can say. Hands down best thriller I’ve seen since Arlington Road. No joke. Keeps you guessing from start to end. And even when you still think you got it, you still question it. Lady’s and gentlemen that’s good writing. It was clever, smart, different. Christina ricci is so beautiful too. I wished I had her as a wife LOL. She’s just so perfect. WOW. I still can’t shake what I just saw. Awesome movie. Well worth every second.
I think this is my favorite horror film so far for 2010, which has been a very weak year. I love this film b/c it’s thought provoking. Christina Ricci is always a pleasure!
Sometimes when you see a film trailer and it looks like it has a fantastic concept , cast and high production value you have an inkling just a nagging feeling in the back of your mind that it won’t quite work somehow either the ending won’t live up to the expectations you have or the mechanics of the film don’t fit together somehow (The Da Vinci Code is a great example of this) but this is a good thing because expectations are aren’t that high and this removes most elements of disappointment that could occur, notice I said most because as much as I tried I still felt disappointed and I did want to like this, truly I did.
The plot concerns Anna (Christian Ricci) who after a car accident wakes up to find funeral director Eliot Deacon preparing her body for her funeral. She is confused, terrified and above all feels very much alive and refuses to believe the Eliot’s claims of her passing. Does she have a point? Or does Eliot have a darker purpose?
It’s an intriguing concept isn’t it? You can understand why so many have been pulled in but I do hope you listen to me here when I say, it is not worth it. The main stars who are usually fantastic in their work feel flat and the way they portray their characters feels lazy almost, like they didn’t really care for the film and this is not a good sign, the only actor who does a good job here is Justin Long, who plays Anna’s fiancé, he carries the film admittedly to no avail but still it is quite an impressive performance and that’s a shock coming from me because usually I cannot stand the man.
One part the film that is there and in working order is the atmosphere and what a fantastic atmosphere it is but an atmosphere that leads to nothing, not even a slight chill or even a tingle is that too much to ask? Relief was the main feeling I got at the end, relief that the film was finally over after, forgive the cliché, flogging a dead horse for one hour and forty minutes even if the production value and style was incredible.
The underlying theme is life and the choices people make in life always have consequences and every minute should be appreciated but it is virtually ineffective especially to those who have seen the Saw franchise with the same message but unlike the Saw franchise the way the message is delivered feels pretentious and it feels like it is taking the moral high ground, at least Saw had social commentary about suicides to stop it making the same mistake. All in all it’s an evil film; it coaxes you into its creepy grasp with promise of chills and mystery and ultimately doesn’t keep its promise.
Skip to the End
4.0/10
Underwhelming and disappointing, not even Neeson and Ricci can save this from disaster.
Side note: If you want to know the entirety of the plot, I am more than willing to tell you to save you the time and money.
I enjoyed this movie. The actors were good and the story was good. It had a couple of Oh Shit! moments.
Its a movie not only entertaining but its something to give you something to think about it, the child was very creepy part of the movie also.
An interesting concept that never delivers. They spoil whether or not she’s really dead so early on that it’s ultimately useless to keep up the charade as long as they do. It didn’t make me think, because really, the Saw series presented this whole “Live while you’re living, or face the consequences” shtick a whole lot better. All in all, very meh and very average.
A good psychological thriller, with two great peformances by Liam Neeson and Christina Ricci. Liam Neeson was seriously fantastic in this film as the creepy funeral director, I can’t see anyone else playing that part as good as he did. Definitley check this one out, especially if you like a good psychological film that will keep you guessing and mess with your head at the same time.
Fairly interesting premise, worth a watch.
After reading the storyline, can you say you have seen a film similar to this one? Doubtful. Every so often we get a horror film focusing on the afterlife, but none that focus on the protagonist having to figure out if they are truly dead. I liked that additional element thrown into the story, and thankfully it provides some good and very interesting conflict as well. We can all put ourselves in Anna’s shoes and imagine what it would be like if we ourselves were to wake up on an embalming slab, with our last memory one that seemed like it was not headed in the direction we would like it to. The rest of the storyline plays off this dilemma of Anna’s, which makes for a film with not too many sets given most of it occurs in the funeral home, but I did not mind that one bit thanks to a cool story and positive direction. I really liked how Eliot could speak with Christina, but she was unable to contact anyone else outside of the embalming room. Now, this would leave you to suspect that she truly is dead, but certain other developments thrown in here and there will leave you questioning that, and that makes for some fun discussion after the film’s climax.
Director Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo(yeah, I can’t pronounce it either) did a fine job selling this film, with unique visuals that are well shot and great execution throughout the film’s 104 minute runtime. For a non-action-oriented horror film that runs nearly 105 minutes you should expect the film to drag a bit, but that really was not the case here. The film is slow, yes, but it never really drags very much, which I must credit to Ms(yes, a lady). Wojtowicz-Vosloo because such a feat is only accomplished by a great story and good execution/direction to go with it. For a film taking place in such an environment, we really do not get much gore in this one, but you will never notice. The performances in this watch are good, with Liam Neeson naturally taking the cake as the suave show-stealer that he is.
So if this is such a good film then why only a 6-rating? Well, this one just came with some plot holes/screw-ups that I could not forgive. For one, we get some good developments thrown in that definitely spark the viewer’s interest into what is going on, but they were never manifested into anything for the film WHATSOEVER. Now, according to me(my review, my rules) that qualifies as some lazy writing merely put into the film to keep the viewers interest, but nothing worthwhile in regards to the film itself. To further this, there are numerous plot holes regarding whether or not Anne is really alive, which yes is pretty cool because it causes debate between the viewers, but I found them to be a bit too contrasting to be taken seriously, which also left me feeling that these ideas were written into the film to mess with the viewer, and not take us anywhere. Had we been given the same sweet developments but with story-cohesion attached then this film would have fared a higher rating.
Overall, this is a unique film that brings some interesting ideas to this seldom used afterlife sub-genre, but suffers from some plot holes that are just not forgivable. The direction is good, and the acting performances are well-done, but in the end all we have is a film that you may or may not remember six months from now.
keeps you guessing from beginning to end. You end up questioning yourself many times during the duration of the film. Pretty decent movie, Rici was a tid bit corny during some parts but the plot saved it
After.Life is a very intrensting movie, I like it, After.Life is a great horror movie. Neason is a great actor, and all of actors, and actresses did a great job in this movie. This movie was pretty scary.
Bad movie–not horror, not thriller, script delivered almost deadpanned (entire movie felt like a dog-tired screenplay walkthrough), and a good cast totally abused and wasted. Made me sick to see a great actor like Neeson dissolved in this mess. Thought the story was a bore and totally uninvolving, regardless of the Ricci skinfest. Pass.
Turned it off about halfway through.
Finally caught this on Netflix tonight and was thoroughly impressed. The concept of the movie was brilliant, however, it could’ve been executed much better. It was still a great watch and the ending was pretty crazy. I highly recommend this and would probably watch it again.
I agree with guttersnipesurf turned it off about halfway through found the film to be boring and not really going anywhere.
I bought this film right away when it came out on dvd. The concept is original and is portrayed in a great way. The cast is great and is actually somewhat scary without any gore.
While this movie was very interesting to me, it just got old really quick. One thing I will say is the acting was pretty good IMO. It is fun trying to figure out if Liam Neeson is telling the truth or if he was just a psycho. But sadly theres not much more to it than that, well at least we got some naked Christina lol. Not good, but absolutely not horrible either, I say watch it once and move on. Not worth buying though.
Creepy. I recently lost a family member and this movie hits me in the chest. Slow, deliberate, creepy film. Let’s face it, funeral directors are some “different” people. They provide a necessary service, but I wouldn’t want to hang around them too much. Liam Neeson exploits this fact with brilliant acting in his role as funeral director/mortician. Christina Ricci is very good in her role as a dead girl.
Watching this one under the “right” set of circumstances makes a big difference in how the story effects you. I recommend it.
I’m a fan of Christina Ricci and would love to see her in more clever, atmospheric horror movies.
And I thought Liam Neeson as a “baddie” was a good choice. Good to see him play non-hero roles for once. The right “baddie” role suits him.
So I was keen to watch this.
The idea/story was pretty unique but as patricktullius posted, it could’ve have been executed better.
Seemed a bit lifeless (no pun intended there *lol*) and it did leave me a little disappointed after I had great expectations of it.
Visually it was well executed. And paradoxically I did enjoy the slow creepiness to it. Just that it was a little disjointed.
I can’t believe I’m complaining about this (being a sane guy with a healthy sexual appetite *lol*) but I did think the nudity was overplayed.
It didn’t flow and wasn’t “matter of fact”. It seemed to be forced and the director was looking for moments specifically to keep showing Christina in the nude. (As fine a “female specimen” as she is *chuckle*)
But I did enjoy the guessing game trying to work out what was actually going on. Not an exceptional movie, but not exceptionally bad either
A very interesting film with good performances especially from Liam Nesson. This is the kind of movie in which we all the time wondering who is telling the truth and who is not. Anyway is not a horror movie is a thriller. Is definitely a good movie with a good story and good performances.
If you like movies where you have to go guessing all the time, this is a good option.
I’m sorry but the reviewer at BD obviously did not understand this movie at all. SPOILER AHEAD: Liam Neeson did not have a gift to see dead people. He would cause wrecks and then inject the injured with a drug before paramedics would arrive so they would appear dead. (the coroners van can be seen in the beginning when the girl crashed and at the end when the guy crashed). He brainwashed the little kid into thinking he had a sixth sense like ability so he could carry on with him. he also even says in the movie “i’m tired of these corpses walking around pissing and shitting, taking up our air”. he would chose victims that he viewed as unappreciative towards life.
One of the weirder movies I’ve seen this year.
“After.Life” is a really strange kinda-psychological/kinda-supernatural horror-thriller – not bad, but not great either. The basic premise is cool but due to a weak script, the movie ended up disappointing and far from being as great
as it could have been.
Pros:
~ A splendid performance from the fabulous Liam Neeson.
~ A splednid performance from the uber-gorgeous
Christina Ricci (my goodness, that girl has tits!).
~ The whole movie was beautifully designed and wonderfully filmed.
~ Loads of atmosphere and a few chilling moments.
~ The quite unexpected ending is simply stunning.
~ “Exit Music (For A Film)”, my absolute favorite Radiohead-tune, was played over the credits – yay!
Cons:
~ An extremely lame performance from Justin Long.
~ A badly written and paced script, including lots of boring and/or pointless scenes, and a few really stupid plot holes.
~ Large parts of the dialogue are annoyingly cheesy.
~ The scene where they ripped off the hospital-scene from “The Descent” is sooo poor, it hurts.
Promising premise but weak story. Liam was great, Ricci was somewhat annoying (there is, her character was) and despite all the atmosphere, there are huge plot holes in the story. It’s extremely easy to check if you are dead or alive, but in this movie it seems like a tough task. It’s not. Period. That much I can write without spoiling much.
That pretty much spoiled whole that pretentious play. And some totally unnecessary pretentious scenes which made no sense but to be like “oh my God, that so deep!”. Again, it’s not.
Liam’s great performance was wasted on this movie, it’s a shame, it could have been much better with better script.
what a mess of a film, good actors misplaced in a below than average script
Interesting film to watch. The fact that Ricci was naked in it may have clouded my judgement a bit.