After.Life (2010)

Life after death is...more life? Wait...what?

Director: Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo
Studio: Lleju Productions/Harbor Light Entertainment/Plum Pictures
Genre: Psychological Horror/Thriller
Country of Release: United States
Year of Release: 2010

The first feature length film from director Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo (whose name I hope to never have to type again in my life) is a psychological horror film about a young woman played by Christina Ricci, who ends up in a morgue after a car accident and questions if she is alive or dead while interacting with a rather creepy mortician played by Liam Neeson. Do you like movies that like to play with your mind? If you do, you may possibly love After.Life as that is the entire premises of the film.

We are introduced to a completely unlikable character who we don't really care if she is alive or dead but the film goes back and forth playing with the viewer's head making them wonder if she's alive and being brainwashed into thinking she's dead by a serial killer or if she's dead and interacting with a man who has an ability to speak with the deceased. Oh, and her grieving boyfriend is unable to accept her death and tries to uncover the truth about what happened to her. On paper this sounds like a brilliant idea for a movie but when the entire film consists of an hour and a half worth of constantly switching the viewer's perspective of "OH SHE'S ALIVE", "NO WAIT, SHE'S DEAD", "NOPE, DEFINITELY ALIVE", it grows thin.

There is only so much of such a concept that one can take before they become bored and no longer care, that is the other problem with After.Life. It is not particularly entertaining, there aren't remotely enough scares or even disturbing moments really to make it entertaining in the least bit but there isn't enough depth given to the subject matter to make it much of a thinking movie either. In fact, I received a headache trying to think through this movie as watching it and I suspect others very well may also experience at least some sort of frustration at such an unrelenting gimmick.

The film tries to touch on the concept of getting people to appreciate the time that they have while they're still alive but it never goes further than a few very simple conversations that are immediately undermined by the return to the less than subtle mindscrew the film is based upon. Also, any particular depth and seriousness is also undermined by rather pointless exploitation-esque scenes of Ricci completely naked for no remote plot reason other than forced sex appeal. That's not to say that it's a particularly badly made film, there's nice detail given to all the scenes within the morgue and Liam Neeson's character manages to portray just the absolute perfect balance where we can't tell if he's benevolent or malevolent. The script just focuses too much on messing with the viewer's head instead of actually delivering much of any content from a horror or psychological perspective. I love mindscrew films but not when the mindscrew factor takes over everything else and when taking away it, you have an ultimately shallow film.

However, the mindscrew basis that the film refuses to relent on whatsoever and refuses to give us a definitive answer for at the end of the film is what hurts the film to the point where it becomes slightly obnoxious to watch all the way through. There's definitely potential for Wojtowicz-Vosloo as a director but a more subtle, less forced, and more purposeful piece than After.Life will be necessary.

Rating: 4.5/10