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After.Life
After
a horrific car accident, Anna (Christina Ricci) wakes inside a funeral
home, where her body is being prepared by the funeral director; Eliot
Deacon (Liam Neeson) Deacon explains to her that she was killed in that
car accident and is now in the transition to the afterlife, and that he
has the ability to communicate with the dead. Anna, who feels that she
is still alive, finds herself trapped inside the funeral home, while
Deacon reassures her that it’s his job to help her move on and accept
her death leading up to her funeral. All the while, Anna’s fiancé; Paul
(Justin Long), unable to accept losing her and believing that she is
still alive, tries to uncover the real truth behind it all before it’s
too late.
After.Life is a film that has some good performances, the strongest,
coming from Liam Neeson as the funeral director; Eliot Deacon. Neeson
giving a performance that keeps us guessing. Is he a man burdened with
this ’gift’, trying to help those who have passed, accept their fate and
move on to the other side, or is he just a sick monster? Christina
Ricci does a great job with what she has to work with. Her character
being fairly unlikeable for around the first 20 minutes of the film. I
didn’t find myself caring about her at all until she was in the funeral
home and struggling to accept that she was dead. Also, she spends the
majority of the film wearing next to nothing and then the majority of
the third act naked. You have to hand it to her, she’s a brave actress
who’s not afraid to go all out for a role. Justin Long plays the
concerned fiancé, trying to get to the bottom of the situation, similar
to his role in Drag Me To Hell, but not as good.
Now
don’t get me wrong, After.Life is an enjoyable film, that comes
with a great premise. It’s a horror film, wrapped in a shiny, sterile
wrapper that just ends up being a little more dull than good. The ending
of the film is left open ended, leaving the viewer to speculate and
interpret for themselves what had actually happened and whether she was
dead or not, but it’s made blatantly obvious in the film that she was or
wasn’t (And for the sake of ruining the film, I won’t say which). Though
when it finally comes down, it makes you think why some events had
happened earlier in the film if she was alive/dead. It’s completely
contradicting of the entire final outcome and making the film seem more
confusing and really, stupid than it should be.
The
DVD picture looks quite good. A high being the funeral home, which is
filmed quite nicely, with warm wooden and oak colours, making it feel
peaceful and inviting, but once we enter the lower level, into the
morgue, showing the muted, for lack of a better word, dead colours. The
combination of grey, silver and the shine of the preparation equipment
of Deacon’s really give that cold, sterile feel, which is a plus for the
look and an add a great substance to the film.
The
only extra that comes on this disc is the original theatrical trailer.
In the
end, After.Life is one of those films that has a great premise,
looks great and is fairly well executed, but doesn’t completely deliver
in the end. Like the occupants of the funeral home, this film has no
pulse. |
