After.Life [Blu-ray] | ![After.Life [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51nXyfznC4L._SL160_.jpg)
| Actors: Liam Neeson, Justin Long, Christina Ricci
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Category: DVD
List Price: $34.98
Buy New: $17.95
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Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 3,141
Format: Color, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Blu-ray
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running Time: 104 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 5.3 x 0.5
MPN: ANBBR21691
UPC: 013132169194
EAN: 0013132169194
ASIN: B003IY49K2
Theatrical Release Date: 2009
Release Date: August 3, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Tcfhe/anchor Bay/starz Release Date: 08/03/2010 Rating: R
Amazon.com
Quite a few folks in the movies have seen dead people, especially since The Sixth Sense, but After.Life gives this by-now-familiar conceit an intriguing spin. As director-cowriter Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo's 2009 film would have it, the deceased aren't exactly dead. At least not yet; in the days between whatever killed them and the moment they're put in a box and lowered six feet under, they're caught in some kind of purgatory, no longer alive but still able to move and communicate. Not to everyone, of course; only Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson) has the ability, be it a gift or a curse, to converse with these infernal travelers as he readies them for their final rest in the basement of his funeral home. That's where he meets Anna Taylor (Christina Ricci), who died in a car crash following a nasty argument with her boyfriend, Paul (Justin Long). Anna, not surprisingly, is in denial. How can she be dead, when she can still walk, talk, and experience emotions? Well, it's complicated, but Eliot's there to help her sort it all out--that is, unless he's up to something considerably more sinister, a question that remains in doubt even at the very end. After.Life has a cool concept, a good look, an ominous vibe (driven by former Tangerine Dream member Paul Haslinger's relentlessly spacy, downbeat musical score), and some fine performances. But movies like this depend on the rules and boundaries the filmmakers establish. In The Sixth Sense, those rules ("dead people don't know they're dead," etc.) are simple and consistent. Here they're a bit more confusing. How can the deceased wield a knife, open a locked door, or even make a phone call? If Anna is dead, why can she still see her breath on a windowpane? The willingness to accept such things may well affect one's appreciation of this very absorbing film. --Sam Graham
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 24
 After.Life August 2, 2010
Carlos E. Velasquez
12 out of 18 found this review helpful
It took me quite some time to get started in writing this review. You see, "After.Life" is a film unlike anything I have seen in a while. This doesn't mean, in any way, that the movie in bad - on the contrary, this is an unconventional picture that defies categorization: it can be a drama or it can be a mild horror film. At any rate, "After.Life" is smart and engaging, an unforgettable experience.
Christina Ricci stars as Anna Taylor, a young school teacher who is apparently engaged to Paul Coleman (Justin Long), a successful lawyer. Early in the movie, we watch her attending the funeral of a former piano teacher. It is there that we meet Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson), funeral director of the cemetery in which the burial was taking place. She later joins Paul for dinner, and he informs her about some news that made her angry. After some loud arguing, she leaves the restaurant in a rush, and takes off by herself. Predictably, she had an accident and, as a result, she dies. Next thing, she wakes up at the funeral home in which Eliot is about to prepare her body for viewing. She has scars as a result from the accident that killed her. She argues with Eliot that she is still alive, and he informs her that she suffered massive internal trauma due to the car accident, which caused her death. He also tells her that he has the capacity to hear and talk to the dead - he "helps the dead to make the transition." He claims that he hears their complaints all the time, and that hers is not new. She insists that she is still alive, and Eliot tries to convince her otherwise. The story slowly develops under this premise, and the director (Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo) provides clues throughout the movie about whether or not Anna is indeed alive.
"After.Life" is dark, as expected, yet it has a beautiful, colorful production design and photography. Christina Ricci has to be commended for the choices she makes in films - she spends half the film with no clothes on and stills delivers like the best under those presumably uncomfortable conditions. Neeson, on the other hand, also portrays his character with restraint, given the fact that his wife in real life recently died, and he has to make a film about death. The DVD includes a making-of documentary, commentary by the director, and more. (USA, 2009, color, 103 min plus additional materials).
Exclusively reviewed by Eric Gonzales on July 31, 2010 for [...]
When the Living Truly Listen August 5, 2010
TastyBabySyndrome ("Daddy Dagon's Daycare" - Proud Sponsor of the Little Tendril Baseball Team, USA)
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
Life can get interestingly hard. Especially when you die. Imagine, if you will, having a relationship you love. Then imagine seeing it fall apart right before you eyes as you find out that you are going to be left behind for a better job opprotunity. That means that you will be a failure like your mother told you, stuck in the life you always dispised, alone.
And then it happens - you collide with a vehicle and find you are dead and can only sort this out with one person, the man making you perfect for the funeral you never wanted to attend.
In After.Life., everything was laid out wonderfully and the movie kept a question coming back to you. Why is it that this man can see the dead when everyone else cannot? He doesn't really know the answer, saying only that it is a gift he had, but these people are dead - aren't they? They show all the signs of death, look dead to everyone else, and are either really easy to talk into something or are cold and corpsy.
Its a good thing to watch and nice, especially considering how much of it hinges on two people talking.
Had the two people been a different group, I might have disliked this movie. This was not the case, however, and I found that it seemed to know how to pull me in and keep its secrets until the end. And even the end - it is a cold movie with cold things to say, and that ending is especially unkind.
Personally, I loved it and thought it was a great find considering it was just a movie I found with no real fanfare at all.
Schindler has left the building! August 20, 2010
J from NY (New York)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo's "Afterlife" is a rare film that, while certainly not being the feel good movie of the week, is a serious meditation on life and death. Actor Liam Neeson has taken a decidedly different turn in his career ("Taken", "The A-Team") and his change of cinematic scenery consummates itself in his role as Eliot Deacon, a funeral home director (the character's last name is most certainly no accident.)
The movie is not at all frolicsome: most of the crucial events happen predictably in Deacon's very own "after.life", the funeral home in which he imagines himself and unfortunately for all practical purposes is a God. Christini Ricci (one of my favorite actresses who I was somehow not surprised to see here) is Anna Taylor, a young woman who crashes her car into a truck on a stormy night after an argument with her boyfriend Paul Coleman (Justin Long, an actor with the emotional reaction time of a brain damaged Keanu Reeves). It is here that she departs from her death-in-life to a life-in-death, awakening in the somehow hands of Deacon and being told that she is indeed dead, though she moves and breathes.
Deacon creates a sort of netherworld, an unholy monastery of the living but dead with his chosen "profession". He administers all the drugs that would normally be reserved for a corpse to Anna, because in his personal opinion she is indeed dead as Jimmy Hoffa. Protesting that she is alive, he exclaims: "You people always say the same
things!" Lording over her compromised psyche, one can tell if one watches closely that he is actually insane enough to let her try and escape. He considers himself a sort of father to these wounded people, and treats them like they are "his children". He wants to see if these people who with unlived lives are finally ready to make some plunges once they face what they've always been avoiding: death. And there is indeed a part in which Anna concedes to her fate: he opens the door and tells her to go, go see her boyfriend (who understands the reality of the situation intermittently but never gets the punch line till it's much too late) and Ricci's character states bluntly: "I'm glad it's over. I'm glad I'm dead."
Embalming fluid drenches every frame of this movie like a waterfall and you can smell it. It is not for everyone. The bleak outlook on human nature even extends to the higher-ups: it's pretty obvious that somebody in the police department is working for Deacon, because the autopsy reports are never really legitimate and some ambulance, somewhere, must be delivering these people to him. Deacon's character is so insane and yet so methodical that at times you wonder if he actually believes in what he's doing on a moral level. Edgar Allan Poe would have been envious of what the director has accomplished here. Though again not for everyone, fans of horror/psychological horror will have a good time with this film which one might even say is close to being a cult masterpiece.
Good movie, better acting and a great plot August 27, 2010
Isra Ricci
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
About "After.Life": A perfect scary movie to watch at home with friends and popcorn. Some people say that the argument is difficult to get, I wouldn't say that. Mss Ricci does an amazing job once again.
About the dvd: Fine. There's a video where the director gives us some clues about the storyline.
You shouldn't miss it!
Intelligent thriller August 8, 2010
barry (Boston, MA United States)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I wasn't sure what to expect with this film. I like all the actors and thought the story sounded very intruiging but today so many films released in no way match their potential. The film stars Christina Ricci as Anna, a school teacher who is involved with lawyer Paul Coleman who is played by Justin Long. The movie is filmed with a mysteriousness to it from the very beginning. These two are a couple yet they are fighting from the very beginning. It is hard to get a grasp at first on how we are to connect to them. But if you have read anything about this film you know that Anna gets in an accident and dies. Yet the question becomes is she really dead or not? Saying this much is giving away none of the plot. Most of the movie takes place with Anna's body in the funeral home where she is being prepared for her funeral and burial by the funeral director Deacon played by Liam Neeson. But Christina Ricci is not lying still as the dead do. She is awake, alert and very confused by her surroundings and predicament. Liam Neeson supposedly has a special sense where he can communicate with the dead and he explains all to her as he tries to get her prepared for her next step in death. Many people view Anna's body and all they see is a dead corpse. It is only Deacon who can interact with the woman.
But the movie is in no way this simple. We have a young boy, one of Anna's students, who can also see her and Paul never believes that she is indeed dead. I was caught up in the film from the beginning but was delighted when the script introduced many twists and turns that answered all and any questions and also brought up many issues all people have about living life, experiencing love and accepting fate. Christina Ricci is superb as Anna. Yes, she is naked throughout a great deal of the film but her skills are so extreme that it is in no way gratuitous. It is necessary for the plot and though she is a very beautiful woman you will find yourself following her superb acting more than dwelling on the lack of clothing. Liam Neeson is also excellent and Justin Long was an excellent choice as the solid everyman type boyfriend. He is a good person with no motives. He merely loves Anna deeply.
The twists and turns make sense here and the director weaves it all together with skill and great intelligence. This film is a psychological drama but also a very high suspense film. It pulls you in, gets you to care for these characters be they good or bad and then the twists get tossed in. Like I said, they all work and they will send you on a headspin which is what a good suspense film does. I was so enthralled in the last half I did not want it to end. Is Anna dead or alive? This question is the basis for what is an excellent strong drama with heaps of believable suspense. And the film also stayed with me long after with many thoughts runing through my head. Another sign of a great film. I highly recommend this film but just remember it is not your regular nonsensical thriller. You must pay attention with this one and never let your guard down. And then it will be a great experience.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 24
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