Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

After.Life Blu-ray Movie Review

Decent.Movie.Fair.Blu-ray.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 31, 2010

What's the point of preserving the body if the soul's already left?

After.Life is one of those ambitious Psychological Horror movies that looks good, lingers about with a fair bit of suspense, and features several fine performances, but at the end of the day, it seems like little more than an inconsequential picture that's worth a watch but not worth remembering. To the picture's credit, it attempts to delve into some pretty substantial thematic elements that deal with the meaning of life, the purpose of death, and perhaps most fundamental to the story, the differences between the two. Writer/Director Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo takes the right approach with the material; she keeps her picture focused, honest, and completely within the scope of more thoughtful and artsy Horror moviemaking. After.Life, then, allows both its story and its audience to focus on the details, themes, and ideas that are the backbone of the film without becoming overwhelmed by unnecessary gore. The result is a well-crafted picture with good intentions, but it never hits quite all the right notes that would bring the full story and all its complexities into absolute focus. Maybe that's the objective, the picture in a roundabout way saying that it doesn't have all the answers, but either way, After.Life, by its conclusion, feels a bit too shallow and unfinished despite its noble efforts to take on a tough subject with class.

What would Haley Joel Osment make of all this?

Anna Taylor (Christina Ricci, Sleepy Hollow) doesn't quite know what to make of her life. She's in an unfulfilled relationship with Paul Coleman (Justin Long, Youth in Revolt) and is suffering from signs of something not physically right, enduring both hallucinations and nose bleeds. When Paul informs Anna that he's received an offer to work in Chicago, she takes it as a sign that their relationship is over. Before Paul can tell her that he wants to stay with her, she speeds off from dinner, only to perish in an automobile accident. At the morgue, Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson, Chloe) tends to her body, and, it would seem, her soul. Anna's finds that she's able to speak directly with Eliot and move about the room. Eliot claims a supernatural ability to communicate with the recently departed, but Anna believes that she may not, in fact, be dead. As her family mourns her loss and as Paul slowly comes to believe that something surrounding Anna's death might not be quite right, Anna struggles to learn the truth about her life -- or her death, as the case may be -- and what might be to come in the afterlife.

Where After.Life finds its greatest success is through its willingness to tackle such a difficult subject. An understanding of death in life is the ultimate prize; though the biological facts may no longer be in question, it's that other dimension to death -- what happens not to the body but to the soul -- that remains a mystery and was, is, and probably forever will be of great and relevant debate, those spiritual underpinnings serving as the driving force for many in how they live their lives. In that light, After.Life suggests that there might be something more beyond the moment that biological death occurs -- or does it? The picture's title, it seems, even serves as something of a metaphorical hint as to what it is that the film's story attempts to convey. Does it perhaps signify the journey of the soul beyond the death of the body (Heaven and Hell)? Does the "period" between "after" and "life" signify a stopping point, suggesting that there's nothing beyond the biological elements of life? Is "After.Life" merely a cute play on words? That ambiguity surrounding not only the picture's title but also its drama, themes, and emotion serve as both a potential strength and a possible weakness. Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo's film never captures a clear definition of what, exactly, is happening, though it does hint strongly towards one possible explanation. The picture revels in thematic chaos behind what is a fairly bright, glossy, and straightforward veneer. It's an unnerving film in many ways, but it's also an unsatisfying one in others. The film leaves open room for debate and analysis, but while it cleverly disguises the truth, it doesn't do so, it seems, with much purpose. The picture never really goes beyond asking the question, and while not finding an answer isn't necessarily a mistake, the lack of much effort to find one beyond "is she dead or is she alive" seems the film's greatest downfall.

While After.Life stays away from typical splatter Horror elements and instead boldly attempts to weave a more thought-provoking and psychologically and emotionally satisfying experience, the picture still manages to play into some fairly standard genre elements that sometimes seem to get in the way of the greater exploration of its themes. What gore there is is of the phony CGI variety, and it's almost always seen only within a context that's supportive of the story's themes and metaphors and not inserted merely for gore's sake. There are also elements of phony tension and lackluster drama that advance the story but don't do much for it outside of the structural procedures they represent. After.Life does find a nice contrast between light and dark, these elements visually aiding the thematic underpinnings of life and death and the uncertainty surrounding them. The cast, too, is solid but not exceptional. Ricci and Long capture the tumult, uncertainty, and gradual physical, emotional, and spiritual decay well enough. Liam Neeson turns in the best performance; his character is the only one through the movie who seems grounded in some reality and certain of everything that's happening, but he's still the picture's most mysterious character and, by extension, the film's most uncertain element in a movie that's constructed of almost nothing but confusion and clandestine motives and happenings. That's a testament to an area of the script that's extraordinarily dynamic and supportive of the picture's themes; it's too bad that the movie never gives the audience much more to chew on outside of asking, but not exploring to the fullest extent, some pretty basic philosophical, spiritual, and scientific questions.

After.Life Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Anchor Bay delivers After.Life to Blu-ray with a quality 1080p transfer. The image appears fairly glossy and free of excess grain and noise. The transfer appears consistently sharp, crisp, and clear, with only a few shots appearing ever-so-soft. Details are generally strong, particularly as seen in facial close-ups and the stone exterior of Eliot's funeral home and morgue. The film often sports a cold color palette -- those scenes within the depths of the morgue capture a steely blue and gray appearance -- but there are also plenty of scenes that showcase nicely rendered colors, usually appearing well-balanced and neutral in presentation. Blacks and flesh tones are consistently strong, but slight banding and blocking often appear in backgrounds throughout the film. After.Life features a technically sound but visually unremarkable viewing experience; it's the sort of material high def fans will take for granted, but other than some minor technical bugaboos, Anchor Bay's transfer delivers the goods.

After.Life Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A PCM 5.1 uncompressed soundtrack serves as the primary audio presentation accompanying this Blu-ray release of After.Life. Like the video presentation, it's of a high quality though not at a level where it's going to stand apart from the crowd. The track features a fair amount of surround information, usually generated by more powerful effects and music. Some rather trite "spooky whispering" flows about the soundstage and across the back in one scene, and some of the film's music enjoys a strong back channel support structure. Otherwise, ambience seems mostly limited to the front. A restaurant scene in chapter three features the slightest background nuances -- clanking dishes and chatty patrons -- though these elements are mostly carried across the front portion of the stage. Dialogue is generally strong but occasionally lacking in potency, sometimes playing as slightly shallow. Bass is limited to but a few brief elements that hint at a low end. Ultimately, this is an effective but somewhat generic soundtrack typical of a low-budget Horror/Thriller picture. Anchor Bay's track is solid enough for what it is, but it won't be remembered as a hallmark sound presentation.

After.Life Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

After.Life arrives on Blu-ray with a few scattered extras. First up is an audio commentary track with Co-Writer/Director Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo. She offers up a fairly routine but well-informed commentary, discussing the actors and the characters they portray, the shooting schedule, the picture's themes, her personal thoughts on the subject material, her preparation for the film both technical and personal, the audiences' ability to interpret the movie in different ways, and plenty more. This is a nice companion to the picture, and those that enjoyed the movie would be well served to give it a listen. Delving Into the 'After.Life:' Making of Featurette (1080p, 7:59) features the director discussing the picture's story and the ideas it explores. Also included is the film's trailer (1080p, 2:01) and additional 1080p trailers for Pandorum, Frozen, I Spit on Your Grave, The Crazies, and The Disappearance of Alice Creed.

After.Life Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

After.Life is an admirable picture of high aspirations but that ultimately finds only a modicum of success. It's impossible to fault the picture for trying -- what it wants to be is daring, inventive, and purposeful -- but in the end it leaves its audience unfulfilled and falls partially into genre cliché, the result a picture with promise but not quite the results it seems to have set out to find. On the flip side, the film sports a strong cast and solid direction, and if nothing else, its unfulfilled promise and unanswered questions will leave viewers talking long after the film's end. This Anchor Bay Blu-ray release delivers a quality technical presentation and a few extras. After.Life comes recommended as a solid rental.