After.Life
After a horrific car accident, Anna (Christina Ricci) wakes up to find the local funeral director Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson) 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. Eliot convinces her he has the ability to communicate with the dead and is the only one who can help her. Trapped inside the funeral home, with nobody to turn to except Eliot, Anna is forced to face her deepest fears and accept her own death.
But Anna’s grief-stricken boyfriend Paul (Justin Long) still can’t shake the nagging suspicion that Eliot isn’t what he appears to be. Paul desperately tries to convince the local Police Chief (Josh Charles) that Anna’s alive. But the more he investigates her death, the more they question his sanity. As the funeral nears, Paul gets closer to unlocking the disturbing truth, but it could be too late; Anna may have already begun to cross over the other side.
Member Reviews
Good Movie - sampid
The film is well made and ambitious for an indie film. The director handles the genre scares and thrills with the assured skill of a veteran, yet refreshingly poses some interesting and awkward questions about life and death and the fragile line that separates them. However, the main reason I've given this film an 8 rather than a 9 or 10, is that I'd have liked to have spent more time on the intriguing question about what happens when you die. It's a powerful question. I suspect the producers were more interested in genre scares than thoughtful analysis. Still an amazing film and one I'd recommendAfter.Life will have you thinking. - TheFilmReel
Despite reading a lot, I mean a lot, of negative reviews about this flick I thought it was freaking incredible. I’ve been thinking about it since I watched it and I still can’t make up my mind on what exactly happened. The basic premise goes like this. Anna (Christina Ricci) works as a teacher and is living with her boyfriend Paul (Justin Long). She seems unhappy with life but carries on. One night they meet for dinner when Paul announces that his law firm offered him a job in another city. Anna assumes he wants to break things off with her when he is really planning on asking her to marry him. She runs off, gets in a car accident and wakes up in the funeral home. The funeral director Eliot (Liam Neeson) tells her that she is dead. She finds this hard to believe when she’s talking to Eliot and he’s responding to her. He explains that he can see and hear the dead and is there to help her transition to the afterlife. Or maybe he’s a wackjob intent on burying her alive?
This all takes place within the first 10 minutes or so of the movie. The rest of the movie is basically a head trip. Is she really dead? That’s the question that is asked and while there may be a definite answer there’s so many other things that happen that will make you second guess yourself the entire time. Even the last moments of the film don’t really make the answer clear and maybe that’s the problem everyone has with the movie. To me there’s an obvious answer but at the same time all the other ‘clues’ make it hard for me to accept the answer I’ve come to. That makes the movie a success to me. I love a film that really has me thinking about it, even days after I’ve watched it.Love Story With Macabre Distinction - c4th
Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci, and Justin Long star in an unusual but creative tale about life, love and death. After.Life is a love story with a macabre distinction.
Elementary school teacher, Anna Taylor (Christina Ricci), dies in a car accident just after her boyfriend (Justin Long) attempts marriage proposal. As the mortician (Liam Neeson) begins his preparation of her body, she starts vocalizing her objection and denies being dead. The mystery is like a thin veneer but frequent subtle injections spark some lingering doubts about where it is headed. The morose setting of the basement mortuary and a few psychological invasions help to keep the viewer uneasy but intrigued. The story that evolves thoroughly explores how people deal with love - giving it and accepting it, reaching out for it yet rejecting it, letting it go.
Member Reviews
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Good Movie - sampid
The film is well made and ambitious for an indie film. The director handles the genre scares and thrills with the assured skill of a veteran, yet refreshingly poses some interesting and awkward questions about life and death and the fragile line that separates ...After.Life will have you thinking. - TheFilmReel
Despite reading a lot, I mean a lot, of negative reviews about this flick I thought it was freaking incredible. I’ve been thinking about it since I watched it and I still can’t make up my mind on what exactly happened. The basic premise goes like this. Anna ...Love Story With Macabre Distinction - c4th
Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci, and Justin Long star in an unusual but creative tale about life, love and death. After.Life is a love story with a macabre distinction.
Elementary school teacher, Anna Taylor (Christina Ricci), dies in a car accident just ...