Here After movie review 2021

MOVIE TITLE: Here After (not to be confused with the Matt Damon movie called Hereafter in 2010)

This dark, fantasy, comedy premieres on July 23, 2021 on Video on Demand

RATING: TV-14

LENGTH: 121 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

Thank you to Vertical Entertainment for giving me a press screener so that I could preview their film for you! Their synopsis of the movie describes it like this: A struggling actor, Michael, dies right after a bad breakup, awakening to a singles Purgatory where he must find his soul mate in order to cross over to the other side. With limited time to find true love among other recently deceased single New Yorkers, Michael must navigate the new customs of a ghostly dating life…as if dating in New York wasn’t hard enough already. When he meets the woman of his dreams, who happens to be alive, Michael must figure out how to cheat the system to cross over with her.

The film is written and directed by Harry Greenberger. He also produced the movie with Carmine Famiglietti.

THINGS I LIKED:

It’s an interesting, goofy premise for a story and an interesting perspective on what hell would be like.
Christina Ricci looks amazing. When is she going to start aging? If you’re a fan, check out her most recent movie called Percy vs. Goliath with Christopher Walken. It was also released in 2021.
You get to enjoy beautiful New York City.
Great idea for an opening scene, even though it was super crude.
When I saw Jackie Cruz, I totally thought it was Cheryl Burke from “Dancing with the Stars” making it into movies! They look similar, don’t you think?
The movie features the new, original song “Mysteries of Life” sung by Debby Harry.
There are some little gems of wisdom tucked into the script.
Andy Karl plays the leading man and does a good job. I hadn’t seen him in anything before, so it was a nice introduction. He nails some of the moments but misses opportunities on other ones. Unfortunately, they didn’t use CGI very much that could have allowed him to really use his body more, but I could tell he was holding back in his physicality sometimes. An example of that is when he wanted to hit someone. He moves his arm close but then pulls back. Utilizing visual effects could have helped him with his performance to really go all out.
There are some sweet dedications at the end of the film.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

It started great but then quickly screeched to a halt.
Some of the acting is not very good.
I thought there were some odd casting choices.
There were so many missed opportunities for funny visual gags of a dead man trying to navigate the mortal world.
Some scenes dragged on and on.
There is some comedy but not all of the jokes land.
The rules of the afterlife are nonsensical.
Just put on a bra already…
Terrible on-screen kissing.
Who names their child “Honey Bee”?