Jeremy Thomas:

Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloos feature-length directorial effort is high on star power and proposes an interesting premise, that of a woman who hovers between life and death and a mortician who is there to help her transition. The script, also by Wojtowicz-Vosloo, starts off incredibly uneven but picks up steam as it moves along thanks to the interaction between the young woman in question, played by Christina Ricci, and Liam Neesons mortician. Ricci has to carry her portions of the film while being in various states of undress for large chunks of time, and while that must have been a challenge for her she pulls it off while giving enough tilt to her performance to give the central question of the film--is Anna really dead?--some subtlety and suspense. Neeson for his part carries off a surprisingly difficult role with his usual ease. Under Neesons care, Eliot is at various times curmudgeonly, nurturing, calm and menacing, and he makes it all perfectly believable. On the flip side, Justin Long is horribly miscast as Annas grieving near-fiancee Paul. Long is a charming and likable actor, but here he is just not right for the role and he spends most of the time overacting. The biggest problem however is that the film can never really decide whether it is a supernatural thriller or a psychological one, and that murky status leaves After.Life hanging out to dry. The sudden, fevered pitch toward the climax is too off-kilter and while there are some interesting things that happen as the answers become clear, the plot falls into well-worn territory and becomes a rote exercise in staying firmly within the lines of the thriller genre. This is a film that has its moments and some will be satisfied with Riccis en masse showing of skin, but most will be left wanting more.

tick22:

A very intriging and interesting film. You could almost call this a Horror movie by the ways it plays out to each of our fears that ...are we really alive or dead. Is Anna really dead, or is deacon a mass serial killer? The horror of the mind as well as a suspenseful movie that is not for people who can not think, wonder and need lots of action. This movie is slow but it has to be...There are some fast twist that keep you from knowing the answer and really just as you figure it out, something happens that pushes you back into another thought or so.... A well done slow paced movie that requires a little more than a glance but to watch it and put together all the pieces as they slowly fall into place...or do they????? This one is not your normal hand feed movie but one that makes you wonder and think.....