Life After Beth (2014)

Don't watch this if you're looking for something like "The Walking Dead". Suspiciously similar to the highly underrated "In the Flesh", which revolves around the same premise of loved ones coming back to life desperately trying to reconnect with the ones they left,"Life After Beth" tells the story of a lonesome, grief-stricken adolescent who mourns after the death of an ex-girlfriend just like any of us. I found this film enjoyable. It made me laugh out loud several times especially during the first 45 minutes where everything was subtly hinted. It eventually becomes a little too slap stick as the story unfolds. I think this film is trying to depict what kinds of sh*tholes we get ourselves into when somebody we cherish die. We so desperately try to hold on and wallow in what "was". In the end, we all just have to say good bye, move on, and start new beginnings.It's cute and enjoyable. Maybe something you could go watch when you're bored and don't want to do any deep thinking after.

Fresh from her funeral, Zach learns that his girlfriend has mysteriously returned from the dead in what seems to be some sort of evil hoax, but he soon discovers that it's no laughing matter. Life After Beth does its best to take a bite out of the indie scene with its quirky dark humor and horror elements but lacks the balanced tone it needed to rise from its own grave. I think this has a lot to do with Jeff Baena's misguided direction that clearly prevents this dark comedy/drama from hitting most of its satirical marks.Considering they only had 22 days for filming and a relatively small budget, one could say this first-time director played his cards quite well, but no compliments can bury the film's countless flaws. I just wish he had taken better advantage of the talented comedians he had access to, rather than take such a serious approach to the material. The film conveys such a deadpan style in so many of its scenes that I couldn't help but crave that extra comedic relief it often lacked. The film's soundtrack certainly doesn't help with its aggressively eerie beats that often drown out the jokes, creating a strange tonal crisis that kills off the beautifully chaotic tongue-in-cheek moments. It's too bad Beana didn't take notes from Edgar Wright's superior zombie romantic comedy, Shaun of the Dead.Focusing on the actors themselves, Aubrey Plaza's commitment to her role alone creates such a powerful screen presence that's definitely worth seeing despite the previously mentioned shortcomings. Dane DeHaan also brings a genuine approach to an everyday romance pressed against bizarre circumstances. But what truly gives this film enough strength to save itself from complete failure is the strong chemistry the lead actors share on screen as the troubled lovers. Unfortunately their story is cut short with little to no explanation of how their relationship used to be before Beth's unfortunate accident, adding to the weakness of this odd plot. It also makes it a lot harder to identify with how things have changed and/or care about their future outcome.Described as a "rom-com-zom-drom," Life After Beth suffers deeply from its obvious identity crisis but manages to offer just enough fun to validate a passing mark. Just don't expect to be scared or have too many laughs.

In my opinion Dane DeHaan is an amazing actor. Even though I have vowed to never see a found footage movie again, I did struggle through the entirety of Chronicle which was to no one's surprise...a found footage quality movie.But then I saw DeHaan in Amazing Spiderman 2 where he successfully helped the audience understand why he is so angry and why he has reason to be a villain. So similarly, in this movie he conveys realism under surealistic situations.If zombies were real... this is how it would go down. I am trying to understand why I loved this movie but it all comes down to one fact. Real characters.I keep mentioning again and again how some movies kill off characters and sad music is playing and you are supposed to feel sad yet...you feel nothing at all. And all the Hans Zimmer in the world wont make you cry.But then, there are movies whose plot revolves around a robot with scissors for hands, or a kid that grows up after a wish, or a dude who lost his volleyball in the ocean.And this is a movie with real characters for whom you care. Realistic dialogue, awesome situations. Truly a one of a kind movie. Neither a horror nor a comedy flick...not even a romantic one.Just a story of how it would go down with a little bit of silliness in it.Beth's parents are in denial about their daughter which is only natural. Dehaan's reaction after finding out Beth is still alive and how he goes temporarily insane and re falls in love with her. How Beth loses touch with her humanity gradually and how a zombie uprising is about to occur are all awesome elements.I loved watching this movie. The cast is wonderful and Audrey Plaza earns my respect as someone who is not afraid of destroying her image. I have reached a point in my life where I am bored as hell of watching clichés and formulas. Every alien movie needs a "bomb" the mothership ending. Every possession movie needs a girl acting silly and talking in voices. Every zombie movie needs people barricading themselves in malls. Every disaster movie needs explosions and footage of the Aiffel tower and the Acropolis getting destroyed.Not Von Trier's Melancholia that had a different approach to destruction movies.Nor Jeff Baena's Life After Beth that had a different approach to zombie movies.If you want the same old sith,a typical zombie movie ...go for Land of the Dead [2005]. If you want a different approach...Life After Beth is excellent.I wish the audience was a little bit more supportive to movies like this.I know that a 9 score is reserved for super awesome movies that are classics and that will stand the test of time, with awesome acting, photography, story telling techniques, music and the whole package.Regardless, I am going to give this movie a 9 because I loved watching it and given the ridiculous material they had to work with (a dude in love with a zombie) they did an excellent job.

What's with all the negative comments? It's not suppose to be 'Gone with the Wind'. It is an actually funny movie takeoff on the zombi genre. I predict it will be a cult film of late teen- early twentys low-wage workers on a Friday or Saturday night movie. I really liked it. The combination of John O'Reily and Aubrey Plaza is perfect (as well as all the cast.) Well, as I have to add more lines to fill the required 10 lines, a couple of my favourite films are 'Criminal' staring John O'Reily and 'Safety Not Guaranteed' staring Aubrey Plaza. OK . . . . 'getting high with Doug'? starring Aubrey Plaza and Doug. Oh, Paul Riser, now I remember where I've seen his acting before! Aliens.' How about other film recommendation? The Hedgehog- A french film. Well, thats ten lines! Life after Beth is an enjoyable flick