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Cast: Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci, Justin Long, Josh Charles, Chandler Canterbury, Celia Weston, Shuler Hensley, Anna Kuchma, Rosemary Murphy, Malachy McCourt, Laurel Bryce, Luz Alexandra Ramos
After a horrific car accident, Anna wakes up to find the local funeral director Eliot Deacon 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 still can't shake the nagging suspicion that Eliot isn't what he appears to be. 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.
I was anxious to see this film when I read it was having a limited theatrical release. The film deals with a couple who are having relationship issues, one night while out having dinner the two have a disagreement and Anna storms off and gets into her car and drives away. While driving she gets into an accident and when she wakes up all she sees is local funeral director Eliot Deacon who is preparing her body for her funeral. Anna insists she is not dead but Eliot tells her otherwise, he tells her he has the ability to talk to the dead in order to help them move on to the other side. After.Life is one of those movies that the less you know about it the more you are going to enjoy it. I am not going to go into details over what happens here because it would only spoil the film for those that haven't had the chance to see it yet. I can tell you that this is Director, Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo's first feature film, she has a great eye for making horror, the use of lighting, color and the amazing camera work really help in setting the right atmosphere here and all those combined together really gave the film a creepy feel that seems to get under your skin. Also in a character-driven film such as this one having the right cast is important and I don't think they could of picked a better group of actors to play these roles. Liam Neeson is terrific as the funeral director who may or may not be mad, this comes as no surprise to me since he is great in every role he plays. Also Christina Ricci is wonderful as Anna, she makes her character very believable. I don't thing this was Justin Long's best performance but he still does a good job playing the boyfriend. The stand-out performance to me was that of the little boy who was a student Anna taught. Chandler Canterbury who plays Jack is fantastic in the film and steals every scene of the film he is in. After.Life is one of those films that is open ended, when it is all said and done it asks more questions than it gives answers but that is fine because it gets people talking about the film and gets a lot more interested in seeing it.
I really enjoyed this, it isn't a great film but it comes very close to being one, it is highly entertaining, suspenseful, creepy and thought-provoking. If you like the horror genre and are looking for something a bit different then After.Life is the perfect choice. I certainly look forward to seeing what this talented director comes up with next. I really enjoy movies that get the audience thinking and this is one of those films that does just that, I highly recommend picking this one up.
Released by Anchor Bay Entertainment.
**** Out Of *****