Ryan McNeil
Uncertainty can disrupt our lives like little else. We celebrate what’s going right, and can grieve what’s gone wrong. Not knowing what has happened, or continues to happen however, can set our thoughts on a long, seemingly unending treadmill.
Never is that uncertainty greater, than in coping with death.
HEREAFTER begins in Thailand. It’s here that we meet Marie Lelay (Cecile de France); a French journalist on vacation with her producer and boyfriend Didier. She leaves the hotel on her final morning of the trip to do some shopping, but tragically on this morning, the wave of the Indian Ocean tsunami rips through the town. Marie gets swept up in the tide, and for a moment seems to be done for. She is ultimately revived, but while she was out she experienced…something.
On the other side of the world in San Francisco, George Lonnegan (Matt Damon) is trying to get a handle on his life. He works below his paygrade at a sugar packing factory. He does this, because his previous venture of capitalizing on his ability to commune with the dead left him a shaken and shelled medium. Desperate to escape that ability, he seeks refuge in a simpler life…one that involves an unimpressive apartment, Dickens audiobooks, and adult night classes.
Then there’s a third story – the story of an unexpected death. It has little to do with either Marie or George, and almost drags the whole film down, so the less I say about it the better.
As I think about HEREAFTER, I find myself comparing it to a painting. When I lean in, and examine its technique, I’m fascinated by the bold palette and beautiful brushstrokes. But when I step back and look at the piece as a whole, I find its composition lacking. Few directors in the last decade have made the impression on me that Clint Eastwood has. Some of his recent films I count among the best of the decade; other of his recent films I count among my all time favorites. However, in the case of HEREAFTER, this goes against its favour, since I must consider the painter along with the painting.
Using the great beyond as the backbone of a story is a goldmine. It holds unlimited potential since there are so many opinions of what’s on the other side, and the lack of any concrete proof provides unlimited possibilities. While death is an absolute, how we cope with death, and the closure that death provides varies from instance to instance. HEREAFTER understands this, and weaves it into the story. It makes for some subtle satisfaction when some people are told to let go, and for heartbreak when others get apologies too late in the offering.
Unfortunately, it isn’t the afterlife that holds this film back – it’s the earthbound narratives that are clumsily blended together. Two of the three narratives are adequate, even touching at times. Had these two storylines been the crux of the film, I’d likely be singing a very different tune. Sadly the tale goes one storyline further, and it feels like a step too far. Not only does it have precious little to do with the other two avenues the film is driving us down, but it’s predictable. It’s so predictable in fact, that the first glimpse we’re given of the characters involved, it’s easy to guess what will happen to them.
While this third parallel holds back much of what could be, it doesn’t destroy the film as a whole. This is because one character’s each for truth, and two other characters search for redemption is all rather beautiful. There’s a nobility in a person trying to explain the unexplainable. The character gets that non-believing look from so many that they talk to, but can’t let go since the answer isn’t entirely rooted in science, it’s also rooted in faith.
That thid parallel is also incapable of destroying a timid connection between a man and a woman. Seeing two very bruised people try to fumble their way through an impromptu courtship is pulled off wonderfully in this film. They meet in a cooking class, and muddle their way through chopping tomatoes in the exact same way that they are muddling through their nervous conversation. Their bond is palpable, but so too is the notion that they both need somebody to help the other move on.
And moving on, is of course what HEREAFTER wants to be all about. It wants us to understand what has happened in a loved one’s death, and open up to the possibility of what could be. While its unfortunate that the film doesn’t trust us enough to get that on our own, and feels the need to spell it out, it doesn’t completely drown the overall effect.