What happens to us when we die? A question posed for centuries but forever left unanswered, one can only assume the intended destination of the body and soul when one’s life reaches its expiry date, much less our fate at the hands of a certified mortician. Whether we choose to accept it or not, the human vessel is arguably just flesh and bone; a wholly destructible entity vulnerable to the volatile forces of both Mother Nature and man-made invention, neither of which we have absolute control over. In a noble attempt to commiserate over such universal thoughts, Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo’s directorial debut After.Life assesses the existential quandaries of man’s existence and lays them out on the slab – literally – however, to mixed dramatic results.
After a horrific car accident, Anna (Christina Ricci) wakes up to find funeral director Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson) preparing her body for burial. Confused and terrified, Anna doesn't believe she's dead, despite Eliot’s reassurances that she is merely in transition toward the afterlife. In a candid confession, the solemn mortician reveals he has the ability to communicate with the dead and that she has no choice but to move through her denial and accept her fate as one the deceased. More than a tad suspicious of Elliot, Anna’s grief-ridden boyfriend Paul (Justin Long) begins searching for the truth behind the illusive undertaker’s practices and uncovers a secret more disturbing than he cold have ever thought possible...
From the outset of its introverted sex scene between dwindling young couple Anna and Paul and the awkward conversation that follows, the emotional state of mind induced by this forever-reflective horror drama makes itself acutely known to the audience and (for the most part) doesn’t pretend to sugarcoat it. Screenwriters Jakub Korolczuk and Paul and Agnieszka Vosloo manage to craft a relatively effective series of musings about life and death, mortality and immortality and do a good job of keeping the dialogue believable without being overly pretentious or smug in intent. The movie also works well as a minor expose’ on the arguably bizarre rituals of American funeral processes, the traditions of which are designed supposedly to offer a sense of closure and reconciliation with the dead for those grieving but in many ways come across as grossly sanitized and unnecessarily habitual. After.Life’s melancholy disposition is undoubtedly well implemented and provides the movie with its much needed glumness.
Where the film fails, however, is in its feeble attempts at surrealistic horror and the misguided presumption of the material being highly compatible with a wider audience, specifically those with attention spans no longer than five minutes. For example, director Vosloo stages a number of rather contrived nightmare sequences from Anna’s point of view that permeate her state of denial, one of which involves her being yanked though a doorway into Hell (or pergatory..?) and spoken down to by a younger version of herself in awful decomposed makeup. Another showcases a twisted faux funeral ritual where Anna is enveloped by tree vines and pulled down into the earth as horribly rendered CGI maggots erupt from her mouth, an army of cloaked old women chanting in a circle around her. Flimsy moments such as these and an enforced chase scene or two only cheapen the movie’s otherwise highly sincere temperament and simply don’t gel in context with the rest of the story structure.
Inherently debatable and highly philosophical in nature, After.Life may at first appear a tad pompous but its ideas are well rounded and executed with enough confidence and conviction that it feels moderately accomplished, if not slightly inconsistent. Christina Ricci must also be commended for her brave performance, one that requires her to be fully naked for almost two thirds of her included screen time. Genre fans may find this prospect appealing but be warned, fellow nerds: she’s also dead for most of the movie.
Dir: Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo
Writer: Jakub Korolczuk, Paul Vosloo & Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo
Cast: Christina Ricci, Liam Neeson, Justin Long, Chandler Canterbury
Country: USA
Run Time: 104mins
Rating: R18+
Time to track this one down.
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