The dead often speak to us in different ways.
AFTER.LIFE concerns, we assume, a dead young woman, a school teacher, who debates with a mortician over whether or not she is indeed deceased as he prepares her for her own funeral.
Director Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo fashions quite a morbid tale about the importance of appreciating life when faced with the imminent approach of death. Is Anna(Christina Ricci)in that state between life and death or is the mortician, Eliot Deacon(a creepy Liam Neeson), harbouring sinister secrets?
Justin Long is Paul Coleman, a promising lawyer who was Anna's boyfriend. Paul wants to see Anna one last time before her funeral, yet Eliot insists he can not due to his not being a member of the immediate family. Paul, however, has convinced himself(with help from a child student of Anna's, Jack, portrayed by Chandler Canterbury)that Anna may in fact be alive and will attempt to "save her" without much help.
I would suggest, if you do not want all the answers, to avoid the DVD interview with Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo because she pretty much tells everything. But, she certainly cast plenty of doubt Eliot's direction; he seems suspicious enough. What we see happening as Jack starts attending funerals and talking with Eliot is the possible "indoctrination" of another into the fold..Jack might have the same "gift" Eliot has. Or does he?
Lots of questions arise as to whether or not Eliot can speak with the dead or if he's simply not who he says he is. Ricci spends a lot of time either naked or in a red nightie so those who wish to see AFTER.LIFE just to get their rocks off will have plenty of motivation to do so. There are long, lingering shots of Ricci, even if she carries an appearance of someone who had recently died(there are signs she might be "held hostage" through psychological means), her naked body's form is positively beautiful.
Long gives a strong performance as a desperate man who alienates those around him because he wishes to convince someone Anna might be alive and in need of assistance, with the obvious reaction of "you need to let go and accept her passing" from those who know him.
I imagine Neeson will make many viewers skin crawl, he had that effect on me. There's a contempt in his voice when Anna questions her mortality, and he is skilled at preying upon her vulnerable state, able to somehow avoid times when she could actually kill him(she does, at points in the film, get her hands on scissors and a butcher knife). I think that's the lasting power of AFTER.LIFE, that we feel strongly that she should do whatever she can to escape, but each and every attempt fails mostly because Anna herself perhaps buys a lie due to the success of Eliot's methods of persuasion.
Kudos to Ricci for such a difficult part, she had to remain in various states of undress for quite a bit of screen time, but, to me, she seemed quite comfortable with her body(which only benefits her many admirers). The subject matter is quite provocative and disturbing, so I imagine some viewers will find AFTER.LIFE a bit tough to take.
AFTER.LIFE concerns, we assume, a dead young woman, a school teacher, who debates with a mortician over whether or not she is indeed deceased as he prepares her for her own funeral.
Director Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo fashions quite a morbid tale about the importance of appreciating life when faced with the imminent approach of death. Is Anna(Christina Ricci)in that state between life and death or is the mortician, Eliot Deacon(a creepy Liam Neeson), harbouring sinister secrets?
Justin Long is Paul Coleman, a promising lawyer who was Anna's boyfriend. Paul wants to see Anna one last time before her funeral, yet Eliot insists he can not due to his not being a member of the immediate family. Paul, however, has convinced himself(with help from a child student of Anna's, Jack, portrayed by Chandler Canterbury)that Anna may in fact be alive and will attempt to "save her" without much help.
I would suggest, if you do not want all the answers, to avoid the DVD interview with Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo because she pretty much tells everything. But, she certainly cast plenty of doubt Eliot's direction; he seems suspicious enough. What we see happening as Jack starts attending funerals and talking with Eliot is the possible "indoctrination" of another into the fold..Jack might have the same "gift" Eliot has. Or does he?
Lots of questions arise as to whether or not Eliot can speak with the dead or if he's simply not who he says he is. Ricci spends a lot of time either naked or in a red nightie so those who wish to see AFTER.LIFE just to get their rocks off will have plenty of motivation to do so. There are long, lingering shots of Ricci, even if she carries an appearance of someone who had recently died(there are signs she might be "held hostage" through psychological means), her naked body's form is positively beautiful.
Long gives a strong performance as a desperate man who alienates those around him because he wishes to convince someone Anna might be alive and in need of assistance, with the obvious reaction of "you need to let go and accept her passing" from those who know him.
I imagine Neeson will make many viewers skin crawl, he had that effect on me. There's a contempt in his voice when Anna questions her mortality, and he is skilled at preying upon her vulnerable state, able to somehow avoid times when she could actually kill him(she does, at points in the film, get her hands on scissors and a butcher knife). I think that's the lasting power of AFTER.LIFE, that we feel strongly that she should do whatever she can to escape, but each and every attempt fails mostly because Anna herself perhaps buys a lie due to the success of Eliot's methods of persuasion.
Kudos to Ricci for such a difficult part, she had to remain in various states of undress for quite a bit of screen time, but, to me, she seemed quite comfortable with her body(which only benefits her many admirers). The subject matter is quite provocative and disturbing, so I imagine some viewers will find AFTER.LIFE a bit tough to take.