After.Life (2010)

Anna, played by Christina Ricci, wakes up in the mortuary of the local funeral director, Liam Neeson. He tells her she's dead and he's preparing her body for her burial. What follows is thought-provoking and almost unbearably macabre. The actors were amazing, even Justin Long, and the directing stylish with a very distinctive look.This movie is not for everyone. People will either love it, or despise it with all their heart. But I'd recommend it to anyone who has a taste for dark humor and enjoys putting the pieces of the puzzle together over and over, long after the movie's ended. That said the movie never had a chance commercially. Combine the fact that most people are just going to find it unbearably weird with the fact that the ending is not tied up in a neat bow, and it's clear that this movie will stay underground. However, if you're looking for a beautiful experience with a unique film, After.Life is just about as good as it gets.

Wanted to just write 'Abject piece of crap' as a title, but figured that wouldn't actually provide much information to those wanting to know if they should watch this or not.Don't watch After.Life - you will be bored and then very annoyed. The wankoid title IS the warning sign you thought it was.The enjoyable parts of it are: * Christina Ricci in the nude for most of the film - this may or may not excite you.* Liam Neeson being Mr Blank and doing it quite menacingly - ditto.The problem with this film is that it shoots its main device in the head.If you have a mystery where there are two possible explanations, and you are guessing all the way along which one it is, then you only have three options: Door 1: RESOLVE it - show which one of the explanations applied.Wankoid.Fest is very afraid of this door.Door 2: DON'T RESOLVE it - leave it ambiguous, but leave both explanations possible. To do this you have to have a very good script and a very watchable moment-by-moment screenplay.Drivel.Tournament does not have either of these, and crashes into the wall as it gets REALLY confused and toys with choosing some random combination of Door 2 and Door 3 - Door 3: Make it IMPOSSIBLE for either explanation to be correct, instead we now have an UNRELIABLE NARRATOR, and the audience has to dig out what is happening for themselves. Again, this has the requirements that Door 2 does, as well as needing said narrator.Masturbatory.Indulgence does not have a narrator at all, instead it just has a 'bunch of people doing stuff', and thus in any brush with Door 3 it has no choice but to crash and burn. This is where the audience grabs its head and goes 'Oh no! NO! They screwwwwed it upppppp!!!!'.Yes. They screwed it up. Right.upDon't.Watch - -- ---

There's a semi-decent premise lurking somewhere in the depths of AFTER.LIFE but unfortunately it never really rises to the fore. Instead what we're left with is an entirely nondescript film in which very little happens indeed. There's a lot of mood stuff, a lot of atmosphere setting, and plenty of plot points which end up going nowhere, but as a film, AFTER.LIFE is a disappointment.The acceptable Christina Ricci stars as a young woman involved in a car accident who wakes up on a mortuary table, being attended to by the sinister Liam Neeson. Now, is she really dead and unable to accept the truth about her condition, or is Neeson a psychotic serial killer who enjoys making his victims think they've reached the afterlife? The film never really tells you which is true, providing enough evidence to support either explanation, and by the end you don't really care anyway.Ricci is quite good in this film although not as good as she's been elsewhere, like BLACK SNAKE MOAN. To be fair, she doesn't have much to do other than wander around nude. Neeson plays it deadpan throughout and doesn't have a great deal to do either; you can tell this film was shot in just a few days. Justin Long, as the frustrated boyfriend, feels weak and out of his depth. AFTER.LIFE is more of an insipid mystery than a real horror film, and as such it's not really worth your time; the lack of explanation makes it an all-too-frustrating watch.

Disappointing is the best way to describe this film. It is full of gratuitous nudity (although most won't mind seeing Christina Ricci's breasts). The plot had more holes than a stack of swiss cheese. The movie is pure shock value and the suspense factor was not compelling. I yawned through most of the picture; waiting for something that would never happen. No jump scenes, no likable characters and absolutely no cinema value whatsoever. If you choose to watch this silliness, put your senses on the shelf for a couple of hours so your intelligence doesn't have to face the numerous insults that are thrown at it.Liam, Christina and Justin, you can do MUCH better in choosing your scripts....better yet, fire your agents for talking you into this mindless mess.