After the Wedding Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

After the Wedding Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 14, 2020

After the Wedding refuses to open a Pandora's box of its own making. While the story ebbs and flows with a few major revelations and the truth pieces together gradually over the film's length, there's no excess jumble of secrets, no morass of characters, no unnecessary complications. It's a story of abandonment, rediscovery, and some cunning manipulation with purpose beyond the superficial, but it is never needlessly overwrought. Credit the original story, the 2006 film with which this adaptation shares a title, and Writer/Director Bart Freundlich's (The Rebound, Wolves) well-timed and finely honed script that emphasizes character discovery and emotion rather than overt manipulation and endless twists. The movie is subtle and sophisticated, boasting powerful performances and sincere sentiment as lives change near and far and within the prism of various life stages.

Theresa Young (Julianne Moore) is a successful entrepreneur who is married to a prominent artist named Oscar (Billy Crudup). Their daughter, Grace (Abby Quinn), is only hours away from marrying one of her mother's employees. As if Theresa's life isn't busy enough, she's called Isabel Anderson (Michelle Williams) to her New York office. Isabel runs a charity for impoverished children halfway around the world in India, and Theresa, who is on the verge of selling her business for a substantial amount, is seeking a charitable organization to which she can gift part of her fortune. She insists that Isabel stay in the city for Grace's wedding. But doing so sets in motion a number of truths and reveals which will reshape everyone's lives in drastic ways.

This is a cycle of life film that intermixes heartbreak with hearts on the mend. The film challenges viewers to accept quite a bit in a short amount of time, to see lives change in significant ways, as the title says, in the minutes, hours, and days following a wedding. It is in many ways a film of togetherness, of characters finding lasting connection at the price of upsetting the long established status quo. Though Moore and Williams earn the accolades, the screen time, and the billed center of the story, this feels more like Grace's film. She's the one who undergoes the most change in the movie, not only getting married but learning of a past she never knew would return to her life and a future that will force her to redefine everything she knows about herself, how she lives her life, and who she will share it all with. It's more than a bit fantastical but it's also plausible in a twisting and turning sort of way that, without spoiling the movie's secrets, centers on a character who expends significant effort to better those around her. It's really a matter of whether the plans will deliver the expected -- the needed -- outcome or not.

But one can certainly question the character's timing, motives, and methods. The film pummels Grace with a whirlwind of emotion in short order, upsetting the balance of the happiest day of her life when news that will redefine her life hits, and then hits again late in the movie. Abby Quinn's performance of Grace is perhaps the most unheralded component in the movie, under the shadow of two exceptional actresses, both delivering high end performances (even if watching Williams sulk for much the movie grows a little tiresome). Quinn finds herself sandwiched between Moore's Theresa and Williams' Isabel, in a manner of speaking. Her ability to emote and demonstrate the squeeze she feels and the upheaval she experiences in her heart proves more than compelling. She must soul search, seek answers and balance, and sometimes bluntly, sometimes with finesse, deal with a husband who watches his wife change in an instant and evolve in short order. Her character's ebbs and flows define the picture beyond any other component. Moore and Crudup do dazzle in a late heartbreaker scene, presenting a level of raw and honest emotional content that cannot be easy to muster on a movie set and in the words within a script. That's acting.

After the Wedding Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

After the Wedding's 1080p Blu-ray presentation is solid all around with minimal negatives of note. To get those out of the way first: noise is sporadic and only borderline bothersome in density in the darkest of scenes. There's a little banding to be seen at an art exhibit setup at the 11-minute mark when Oscar is prepping his work, and compression artifacts on Isabel's shawl are visible at the 49-minute mark when she answers the door. The digitally sourced presentation is otherwise in excellent condition. Details are stout and revealing, showing core facial, clothing, and environmental textures with good fundamental efficiency and clarity. There's nothing here that's surprisingly robust or out-of-the-ordinary special but also nothing that falls short of expectations. Ditto the color reproduction. Tones are perfectly dialed in with good saturation and natural contrast. Whether clothes, natural greens, or variously colored city interiors (a restaurant where Grace shows Isabel a photo album being the most colorful example in the movie), the visuals are always alive with expert tonal accuracy. Low light black levels are by-and-large fine while skin tones appear accurate and effective. This is another high performance 1080p MOD (Manufactured on Demand) Blu-ray from Sony.

After the Wedding Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

After the Wedding's dramatically focused narrative doesn't equate to a bland listening experience. Sony's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack excels in bringing individual scenes to life with impressively detailed and fully immersive life, usually in the form of environmental fill. The opening sequence in India springs to life with impressive location detail -- children eagerly gathering for food and vehicles moving about -- with large front end width and satisfying and full surround integration. Likewise, the track incorporates a nice level of sound detail and immersion at the wedding reception in chapter five and lively but balanced woodland ambience in chapter 10 that plays harmoniously with a key dialogue sequence occurring at the same time. Musical delivery pleases, engaging the fronts for dominant width and the surrounds for gentle support. Fidelity is excellent as well and the low end supports just enough to give it the proper feel of weight and total engagement. But dialogue is the primary sonic mover here, and it presents with the expected array of positives: center balance, lifelike clarity, and faultless prioritization (even with some louder support sounds in tow). Though without whiz-bang action the track has been perfectly engineered and proves incredibly satisfying in every way needed.

After the Wedding Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

After the Wedding's Blu-ray includes a featurette and a trailer. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

• Life After the Wedding (1080p, 13:29): Cast and crew explore the movie's story, purpose, emotional draws, the intricacies of remakes, characters and cast performances, and more.
• After the Wedding Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 2:10).
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

After the Wedding Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Abby Quinn's work should not be forgotten in After the Wedding. The name might be dwarfed on the marquee but her character is central to the story and her work as the film's most challenged character should not be ignored. The movie is perhaps too fantastical and calculated, but there's an emotional center that pulls on the strings with just enough force to feel but not so much as to ruin the story's carefully assembled beats and reveals. Sony's MOD Blu-ray includes a featurette and a trailer. Video and audio qualities are good to go. Recommended.