After.Life
After.Life | |
---|---|
Directed by | Agnieszka Wójtowicz-Vosloo |
Written by | Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo Paul Vosloo Jakub Korolczuk |
Produced by | Bill Perkins Brad Michael Gilbert Celine Rattray |
Starring | Christina Ricci Liam Neeson Justin Long |
Cinematography | Anastas N. Michos |
Edited by | Niven Howie |
Music by | Paul Haslinger |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Anchor Bay Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 104 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $2,002,618[1] |
After.Life is a 2009 American psychological horror-thriller film directed by Agnieszka Wójtowicz-Vosloo from her original screenplay. It stars Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci, and Justin Long.[2]
Plot
Eliot Deacon owns a funeral home and talks softly to the corpses he prepares for burial. Middle school teacher Anna Taylor meets Eliot when she attends the funeral of her piano teacher. That night Anna argues with her boyfriend Paul at a restaurant. She drives off in a state of distress and has a traffic accident. She awakens on an embalming table in the funeral home to find the funeral director, Eliot, cutting off her clothes and telling her she has died. He tells Anna that he has a gift and that he can hear the dead. Eliot has a collection of photographs of corpses whom he has helped "make the transition". Eliot injects Anna with a fictional drug called hydronium bromide to "relax the muscles and keep rigor mortis from setting in."
Paul asks to see Anna's body but Eliot does not allow it on the grounds he is not family. Anna unsuccessfully attempts to escape several times. Eliot tells her she must let go of life as she had not really been living anyway. Eventually, Anna escapes and finds a room with a phone where she reaches Paul, who hangs up thinking it's a prank. Anna comes to believe she has actually died when Eliot lets her see her corpse-like self in a mirror. One of Anna's students sees her and alerts Paul, who begins to suspect she is still alive.
Anna's student Jack visits the funeral home and Eliot tells him that they share a gift, the same as
During the final preparation for Anna's funeral, she asks to see herself one last time. Eliot holds up a small mirror, and while she stares at herself she notices her breath condensing on the glass and accuses Eliot of having lied to her about her being dead. Eliot injects her one last time and she slips into unconsciousness. At the funeral, Paul places the engagement ring he intended to give her the night of the crash on her finger.
After the funeral, Paul drinks heavily and behaves aggressively with Eliot, who seems to taunt him and encourage him to see for himself that Anna is really dead, telling him there is not much time. Meanwhile, Anna is shown awakening to the sound of earth being shoveled onto her casket. She cries out and desperately scratches the satin lining of the lid.
Driving under the influence of alcohol, Paul rushes to the cemetery. He and Anna embrace and she tells him that she has always loved him. Paul asks about the odd sound he hears, and Anna explains it is the sound of Eliot's gloves and scissors on the table as he prepares Paul's body. A moment later, he finds himself in the funeral home with Eliot standing over him preparing his body as he did Anna's. Eliot tells him that he never made it to the cemetery due to a car accident, which killed him. Paul protests that he is alive until the moment Eliot inserts an embalming trocar deep into his torso.
Cast
- Christina Ricci as Anna Taylor
- Liam Neeson as Eliot Deacon
- Justin Long as Paul Coleman
- Josh Charles as Tom Peterson
- Celia Weston as Beatrice Taylor
- Chandler Canterbury as Jack
- Rosemary Murphy as Mrs. Whitehall
- Shuler Hensley as Vincent Miller
- Malachy McCourt as Father Graham
- Alice Drummond as Mrs. Hutton
Casting
Wójtowicz-Vosloo envisioned Naomi Watts to play female lead but for unknown reasons casting the actress did not happen.[3] Conversely, Liam Neeson reportedly accepted the part right after reading the script.[4]
Production
After.Life completed filming in New York at the end of December 2008 with Bill Perkins and Celine Rattray as producers. Galt Niederhoffer and Pam Hirsch are executive producing for Plum Pictures with Edwin Marshall and James Swisher executive producing for Harbor Light.[5] Scenes were filmed in Lynbrook, New York in early December 2008.[6]
Release
After.Life
Critical reception
After.Life was not well received by critics. Review aggregate
References
- ^ "After.Life". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
- ^ McNary, Dave (2008-10-16). "Ricci, Neeson believe in After.Life". Variety. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
- ^ https://www.ponapisach.pl/2022/03/after-life-2.html
- ^ https://www.ponapisach.pl/2022/03/after-life-2.html
- ^ Miska, Brad (2010-03-03). "'After.Life' Trailer Fails to Focus on Main Selling Point — a Nude Christina Ricci". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
- ^ Miska, Brad (2009-11-09). "AFM '09: Ricci, Neeson in New 'After.Life' One Sheet". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
- ^ Miska, Brad (2010-01-27). "UPDATE: Anchor Bay Acquires 'After.Life', a New Thriller Starring a Nude Christina Ricci!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
- DreadCentral. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
- DreadCentral. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
- ^ DreadCentral. 2010-04-09. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
- ^ "After.Life (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
- ^ "After.Life Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
- ^ "After.Life (limited)". Bloody Disgusting. April 8, 2010. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
- ^ Dargis, Manohla (April 8, 2010). "The Body on the Slab May Not Be All That Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
- ReelViews. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
External links
- Official website
- After.Life at IMDb
- After.Life at Rotten Tomatoes