After.Life Review
By David Kempler
A Corpse is a Corpse of Course, of Course
Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo's (no, I can't pronounce it) "After.Life" is plenty spooky. It's a hybrid of psychological horror and the supernatural but it's difficult to know which is more true than the other. That is both good and bad news. The good part is trying to figure out what is going on. The bad part is that it never resolves itself in one direction or the other. This makes the end unsatisfying, but the journey has enough positives to still make the whole thing a bit worthwhile.
"After.Life" is great looking, eerie, and features a fine Christina Ricci and an even finer Liam Neeson. Anna Taylor (Ricci) is a pert, young schoolteacher who is not quite happy enough, even though she likes her job, and has Paul (Justin Long), a successful, adoring boyfriend. Something unexplained is troubling her. After a fight with Paul, she drives off in the pouring rain and crashes. She wakes up in a funeral home, where mortician Eliot Deacon (Neeson) informs her that she is dead. Why does he have to inform a corpse that she is dead? Because this corpse can walk and talk, and she is convinced that she is not dead, and that he is up to no good.
The rest of "After.Life" is spent with the director making us believe she is dead and then convincing us that she isn't dead. What starts out as a fun game becomes a somewhat trying experience. Eventually, we are fed information that lets us in on the messages the author wishes to deliver. Some of the messages are mildly intriguing and thought provoking, but after we get a little insight, it's back to the back-and-forth yo-yo treatment that has us wishing the director could make up her mind.
The saving graces of "After.Life" are its look, and Neeson's excellent, restrained acting. He has the ability to provoke us with the slightest glance and with short bits of dialog. In the end you might wonder if it was worth it but you still might enjoy the trip.
