After.Life (2009)

After a car accident, a young woman caught between life and death meets a funeral director who claims to have the gift of transitioning the dead into the afterlife.

Director:

Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo

Writers:

Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo, Paul Vosloo

Stars:

Christina Ricci, Liam Neeson, Justin Long

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christina Ricci	...	Anna Taylor
Liam Neeson	...	Eliot Deacon
Justin Long	...	Paul Coleman
Chandler Canterbury	...	Jack
Celia Weston	...	Beatrice Taylor
Luz Alexandra Ramos	...	Diane (as Luz Ramos)
Josh Charles	...	Tom Peterson
Rosemary Murphy	...	Mrs. Whitehall
Malachy McCourt	...	Father Graham
Shuler Hensley	...	Vincent Miller
Alice Drummond	...	Mrs. Hutton
Sam Kressner	...	Acne Kid
Doan Ly	...	Teacher #1
Jack Rovello	...	Tall Kid
Prudence Wright Holmes	...	Old Woman #1

Storyline

After a horrific car accident, Anna (Ricci) wakes up to find the local funeral director Eliot Deacon (Neeson) preparing her for her funeral. Confused, terrified and feeling still very much alive, Anna doesn't believe she's dead, despite the funeral director's reassurances she's 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's forced to accept her own death. But Anna's grief-stricken boyfriend Paul (Long) can't shake the suspicion that Eliot isn't what he appears to be.

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Plot Keywords:

breath on mirror | female star appears nude | female full frontal nudity | buried alive | engagement ring | 

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Taglines:

Life is the symptom. Death is the cure.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for nudity, disturbing images, language and brief sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alfred Molina was originally cast as Eliot, but was replaced by Liam Neeson.

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Goofs

(at around 1h 11 mins) The Ohio Bicentennial license plate on Paul Coleman's car is JB751C. Ohio Bicentennial plates were only issued in 2 letter, 2 number, 2 letter combinations. A plate in this sequence would have never been made.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Eliot Deacon: It's time now. You're absolutely beautiful for your funeral.
[crossing his hands]
Eliot Deacon: It's as if you were still alive. Just sleeping. This is how they're all going to remember you.

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Soundtracks

Exit Music: For A Film
Written by Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Colin Greenwood, Phil Selway
Performed by Radiohead
Produced by Radiohead with Nigel Godrich
Courtesy of Parlophone

User Reviews

A thrilling ride of suspense and guessing

"After.Life" is a really intense thriller that will keep you in the dark, feeding you just small pieces to keep you guessing and speculating. And that worked so well.

The story told in "After.Life" is really riveting and compelling. It is the type of story that will keep you in suspense and wanting to see what happens next. The plot is Anna Taylor (played by Christina Ricci) is in a car accident and wakes up on a mortuary slab, where she is attended to by Eliot Deacon (played by Liam Neeson). And the story lets you guessing if she really is dead or alive, and whether it is all a ruse set up by Deacon. I am not going to reveal any more of the story, except that it was fantastic.

I like movies that keep you in the dark and have you grasping at clues, trying to figure out what really is happening. And "After.Life" really takes you on a thrill ride where you don't know what is true or false.

The cast was really good and they did good jobs with their roles. Especially Liam Neeson, in the role of the mortician Eliot Deacon. He was right on the money with this performance. I read that they had initially casted Alfred Molina for this part, and I think he would have done an equally good job (as he has been seen in a mortician role before). And also Christina Ricci was doing a good job with her role as Anna Taylor. And it is good to see that Justin Long is finally shedding that teenage role of his and stepping up into the bigger league of acting.

If you like thrillers, then "After.Life" is definitely worth checking out. The story blew me away and took me completely off guard. I hadn't expected it to be anything like this.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 December 2009 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

After Life

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$59,946, 11 April 2010

Gross USA:

$108,595

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,425,535

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lleju Productions, Harbor Light Entertainment, Plum Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1