Customer Reviews

Afterwards

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Once again the Weinstein circus has squashed another good film with no distribution and misleading cover art (their two specialties). To help with the art, there is no significant gun play (smoking gun cover), and the central character played excellently (in English) by Romain Duris gets supplemental pics on the back cover only. Yes, Malkovich and Lilly have supporting roles that they play with powerful directness, but this is really about one man's journey in finding what is important before a fatalistic event may or may not occur in his life. The tagline of "fear the messenger" is actually the opposite of what the film is trying to convey. And the misplaced cover quote (with bad grammar) reveals nothing about the truth of the film ("..tension.."?) - was more of a subtle emotional draw.

There is a beautiful serenity to this entire film - all inclusive with how they manage the cityscapes, countrysides and solitude of the central character, both with the musical score and the cinematography. The story follows a recently divorced lawyer who tries to make sense of this doctor's revelations about how he can foresee death. The story is told in a non-lineal format between present day and some unknown dreamscape involving the main character's family in a beautiful wooded area. I honestly feel the rest of this immersion tale and subplots are up to the viewer to decide in what is meant, as nothing gets preachy or too descriptive in how these messengers might have this power.

As par for Weinstein, they give no supplements, but the video and audio quality are excellent. Bourdos has written and directed a mesmerizing film here, but I have not read Et Apres to know how the translation went. Four for the film and quality but cannot give a five as there is no additional material to assist the package.

The box should have read: Newly divorced lawyer Nathan Del Amico is shaken up after he meets a doctor who claims that he can sense when select people are about to die.

But like the previous reviewers said, the box was misleading. This is not an action/thriller. But I'm easy. I was entertained. I liked it.

I found the main character, a Frenchman, to be very appealing. I liked his quiet manner and subdued acting style. He was handsome and wore interesting clothes (ladies, check out the gauzy shirt he wears in the romantic scenes -- very 'European Romance'). I did not have the plot figured out until just before they told me the catch. So for me, this story kept me interested and curious, and the performances of all of the actors kept me from getting bored. John Malkovich was not a bad guy in this film and the box made him sound like he was. Nope. He was actually a very altruistic guy.

If you like movies with a paranormal twist, where the character(s) has special powers that the rest of us do not, you will like this movie. It is THAT type of movie. NOT an action thriller...

Hope I helped you choose this movie.

Enjoy!
Ellen C Maze, author

"Fill every nerve with tension." It did not fill every nerve with tension, but with boredom. The only way to know about a movie that goes directly to video is from the box, and the information on the box was misleading. I know you can't judge a book by its cover, but the marketing department either had no idea what they were talking about or they just simply lied. This was billed as a fast-paced thriller (as indicated from the smoking gun) on the cover. It was not a fast-paced thriller, but a deliberately paced character study of a high-powered lawyer who had a near death experience as a boy, which only plays in the next to last scene of the movie. The lawyer meets a man who claims to be able to see when people are going to die; this is not the story, although the box suggests the story revolves around the relationship of the two men. It's not. It's about the lawyer re-examining his life, which should lead to a character arc. Instead, there's a character dump in the last scene. The movie is based on a French novel and has great acting (except for the lead; his one expression gets very tiresome), wonderful music, direction and cinematography, but it goes on about 20 minutes too long. The book probably answers the questions that the film raises, but doesn't develop. And the title "Afterward" should have been changed since it has very little to do with the afterlife, but with life and its end at death. But this film should have been promoted as a drama of life and death as it pertains to a successful lawyer and the events in his life instead of a "fast paced thriller" that will "fill every nerve with tension" because that is not this film. If you have some time to kill, it's an okay view as long as you know what you're watching; a dramatic character study with its share of problems. Otherwise, stay away.

As others correctly noted, the cover art of this DVD is misleading: The movie has some violence (but not a lot) with guns and a central character, Nathan (played by Romain Duris) is shown only on the back cover! But here's what you CAN expect: Afterwards offers a fascinating plot with excellent acting, a sold script and a very good musical score. The plot moves along well; I never lost interest or felt bored watching this movie--indeed, as it progressed it only made me more interested to find out just exactly how it would all end. The editing was well done and the flashbacks are easy enough to recognize and place into the overall story.

When the action starts, we meet Nathan (Romain Duris), a cold, dispassionate New York City lawyer who is divorced from his ex-wife Claire (Evangeline Lilly). Nathan cruelly dismisses a group of Haitians who need legal help after a plane crash in which their relatives were killed; and he wants his very young daughter Tracey to fly to New York alone for a vacation with him, even though Tracey makes it clear to him that she's very afraid of traveling alone.

At this time another person enters Nathan's life, at first seemingly for no real reason. Dr. Kay (John Malkovich) heads a department in a Saint Louis medical facility where the terminally ill are cared for with as much dignity as they can have until they die; and when Nathan initially thinks that Kay is suggesting that Nathan himself might die Nathan angrily scoffs at the idea. Just to be sure, Nathan goes through a battery of medical tests, none of which indicate any cause for alarm--and that's when Nathan really tells Dr. Kay to get lost. But soon Nathan does begin to believe that Dr. Kay may actually be able to predict who is going to die soon--Kay tells him that a young man named Dennis (James Arden) will die "in less than two minutes;"--and Dennis DOES die by his own hand! Moreover, Dr. Kay also predicts that an old friend of Nathan's named Anna (Pascale Bussières) is going to die--but this time Nathan takes it upon himself to personally protect Anna and make sure that she does not die. Nathan is beginning to completely believe that Dr. Kay can indeed predict who is going to die soon; but he wants to go out of his way to take good care of Anna to make sure that she lives.

After Dr. Kay gives Nathan a few more cryptic clues, Nathan begins to fear that he, too, will die soon. This brings up huge unfinished issues and business for Nathan: he wants to make amends with his ex-wife Claire and be together again with his daughter Tracey as fast as possible--before it just might be too late.

You may be wondering why I've told you so much of the story; but actually I've left out some of the story so far and I'm certainly not about to spoil it for you by giving away anything more! Suffice it to say that the last ten or so minutes of the film have a couple of plot twists that will stun you. Look also for a fine performance by Reece Thompson as Jeremy, a young man with a terminal illness in the Saint Louis medical facility.

I would have liked some bonus features but the DVD doesn't offer that.

Afterwards is a fine thriller with excellent acting all the way. I recommend this film for anyone who enjoys thrillers and mysteries. Of course, fans of the actors in this movie would do well to add this to their collections.

Sometimes the promotional department of a film causes people to not view a film because it is misrepresented by the graphics on the poster, the DVD cover, or the trailer. Such is the case with AFTERWARDS - a lovely exploration of the concept of death and dying philosophy that has nothing to do with the image of John Malkovich holding a smoking gun! And that is a shame: this is a film that has a lot to say and provides a lot to think about thanks to the writing, directing and acting. The story is adapted from the novel "Et Après..." by Guillaume Musso by Michel Spinosa and writer/director Gilles Bourdos. It is a complex story that thankfully due to the talent of the cast and director is able to carry the audience into a place perhaps not considered or discovered before. It is a thinking person's film and a rewarding one.

The film opens in an idyllic setting of a lake of water lilies where we observe a little French boy Nathan and an English speaking girl Claire gently admiring swans(interesting to note that swans are traditionally or mythically associated with death). The girl slips on the dock, is trapped, and sends the boy to find her parents. The boy runs to the highway where he becomes the victim of a tragic hit and run accident. The film then jumps ahead about twenty years and we discover Nathan (Romain Duris) as a successful New York lawyer living alone after his marriage to Claire (Evangeline Lilly) has ended after the crib death of their son, leaving Claire to manage alone in New Mexico with the couple's surviving daughter: Nathan cannot cope with the fact that he feels responsible for the son's death by not responding to his cries. A strange doctor, Dr. Kay (John Malkovich) appears in Nathan's life claiming that he is able to sense death before it happens: he works in a hospital for the terminally ill, among them is one young lad Jeremy (Reece Thompson) with cardiac carcinoma who is struggling with his incipient dying. Dr. Kay is not malevolent, he is simply a 'Messenger' - one given the ability to visualize a bright white halo around a person who is soon to die. Nathan will not consider the veracity of this obtuse thought until Dr. Kay suggests he visit an old friend Anna (Pascale Bussières) who now works in a diner, living with her Russian father and her son. Nathan is curious, meets Anna, and upon visiting her home witnesses the death of Anna's father. Nathan contacts Dr. Kay, hostile that Dr Kay had suggested Anna was to die but instead lost her father, and Dr Kay reassures Nathan of the process: soon Anna dies also. At this point Dr Kay shares Nathan's history: Nathan did not die in the hit and run accident many years ago and was attended by Dr Kay who then knew that Nathan was also a Messenger. How Nathan turns his life around to flee to New Mexico and join Claire is the transformation of the film.

This is a delicate story told with sincerity and lack of sensationalism. It is a journey into the philosophy of what happens to us as we die. Nathan explains this to is daughter as death being like a ship that sails to the horizon and disappears to our eyes, yet the ship sails on beyond our scope of vision into another unknown space. Director Gilles Bourdos handles the pacing of this visually stunning film with such grace that it becomes a gentle work, allowing the finest acting yet seen from Malkovich, and reminds us of just how fine an actor Romain Duris has become. This is also a lovely introduction of Evangeline Lilly, an actress with tremendous screen presence and acting ability. Forget the trailer and the ugly cover of this DVD and allow yourself to enjoy this mesmerizingly beautiful film. Grady Harp, November 10

I watched this last night and was very surprised that I hadn't heard or read anything about this film. This is the type of movie that you need to see twice to appreciate. The acting, directing, subject matter, and pace are all top tier, interesting, and anything but stereotypic. This film deserves more stars and recognition than it seems to have been awarded. Give it a try. It's worth owning or renting.

What if you were going to die? Would you want to know? Would you be prepared? What if the messenger of death remained at your side, waiting for your eyes to finally open? Would you fight to keep them closed, hold your life close to your chest, or could you let go, accept what you cannot control? If you could save a life, would you in return save yours, or would fate deny you the chance to live again? What would you do then? Would you lash out in anger, hurl bitter words at those offering support, and cry a thousand tears, tears that fall gently like soft, white feathers? What if the message was wrong? What if death already came? What would be the price for you to pay because you are alive today? We all walk that fine line between life and death, but do we ever understand that the message is not what waits in the white halo of light but to cherish every moment leading into the end of the end.

First of all, this DVD's jacket is misleading. This is NOT a mystery, a thriller, or an action film - as the smoking gun on the cover suggests. It's more of a plodding, confused elegy.

What's more, this movie looks as if it was the result of some boozy after-hours confabbing at an international film festival. It looks as if, under the influence, a polyglot clutch of people decided it would be a good idea to cement American-French relations with a joint cinematic project. "Let's see now, who should star in the movie? Let's try to get John Malkovich. His career is hot now. And how about Romain Duris? The French like this one of their native sons."

The resultant movie is a mixed drink whose ingredients are at war with each other, a somewhat benumbing brew of barroom philosophy that never should have been concocted.

The main character moves between France and America, his every step haunted by a strange man who issues enigmatic warnings about pending health issues and death. This "messenger," played by Malkovich, says he can't predict people's time of death - only that they will die. Well, yes. Do we really need supernatural visionaries to tell us that?

Duris is wooden in his response to these intrusions. Speaking English with a heavy French accent, he seems out of place in both France and in America.

There is some lovely photography here. But that's hardly enough to compensate for the movie's flimsy conjuring of clichés - "Live in the moment. Celebrate life rather than fearing death." Neither the acting nor the script does anything to make us more acutely feel the truth of these commonplaces. They are like all barroom utterances. They might seem profound at the moment, but when we're sober in the light of the following day, we find they've left no trace of motivating effect on us.

Very disappointing. Spoilers>> Malkovich claimed he could not say when exactly someone will die but he knew they were going to die (we all can predict this). But when the guy on the tube shot himself he said he was going to die within 2 hours (did it mean that when they glowed white they had 2 more hours?). So how soon was Clair going to die after she glowed. It was all pointless as the Messengers had no power to stop death only to predict that someone was going to die at sometime.

This is the worst acted, most miscast movie at least for this first decade of this century and ranks up there as one of the worst films EVER. John Malkovich turns in his typical psycho drenched acting part now going nose-to-nose with Bruce Dern as the most predictable bad actors of all time....the type cast kings of the universe.

"Afterwards" is a senseless, violent, contrived soup coming from nowhere and going nowhere. This would not even work as a movie made for network television..let alone cable like HBO or Showtime who are churning out some of the best movies ever between them.

Romain Duris' (whoever he is) acting is so bad that you wonder how he got a paycheck for this failed effort. This is the most profoundly dumbest movie I have ever seen.

This is a bad, bad movie with horrible acting all around and a script that leaves you gasping for breath that something this terrible could have actually been financed and distributed..... This is "bad" at its worst.


Anybody who thinks this is some art film or some clever idea for a film is probably using heavy drugs from Columbia and SE Asia....with chasers from Afghanistan poppy fields...

Between Malkovich and Duris..you have a lethal acting cocktail that will have you begging for mercy within a few minutes...