Film Review with Robert Mann – It’s A Wonderful Afterlife

24th April 2010

It’s a Wonderful Afterlife **½

So, what is It’s A Wonderful Afterlife, you’re wondering. Is it a sequel to the 1946 classic It’s A Wonderful Life? Absolutely not, such a thing would be an abomination. Or a spoof of that film maybe? Again, no, that would be even more outrageous. Maybe, a horror take on said film. Third time no, but the horror element isn’t too far from the mark. You see, It’s A Wonderful Afterlife, following in the footsteps of 2004 film Bride And Prejudice by director Gurinder Chadha (who is also the director of this film), is the latest film to combine sentimentalities and humour of the British romantic black comedy with the vibrant colour and musical stylings of a Bollywood movie, but with a macabre twist that makes for a film that, if nothing else, has a degree of originality and ingenuity on its side, and takes the phrase “I could murder a curry” to hilarious new heights. Is it really a wonderful afterlife though?

Mrs Sethi (Shabana Azmi) in an Indian mother and widow who can’t bear the thought of her only daughter, Roopi (Goldy Notay) being alone and unhappy. Okay, she’s a little plump and opinionated…but she would make a great wife for some lucky man, if only she were given a chance. Matters are not helped either when Roopi’s psychic friend Linda (Sally Hawkins) returns from a trip to India announcing that she is to marry an Indian man. When Mrs Sethi can no longer stomach the rudeness of families who refuse her daughter, she takes matters into her own hands with the only way she knows… Suddenly, the police, headed by DS Murthy (Sendhil Ramamurthy), who happens to be a family friend, and DI Smythee (Mark Addy), begin a hunt for a serial murderer who cooks a killer curry. Mrs Sethi doesn’t feel too guilty until the spirits of her victims come back to haunt her as they are unable to be reincarnated until their murderer dies. Mrs Sethi has no problem killing herself – she’ll get to see her dead husband again – but how can she go before her beloved daughter is married? The spirits realize that helping Mrs Sethi’s daughter find a suitable husband before the police catch her is their only chance for a wonderful afterlife!

It’s A Wonderful Afterlife is much like Shaun of the Dead in that it attempts to fuse aspects of different genres that normally no one would even associate with one another, let alone would actually gel together. Unlike that film, the fusion doesn’t quite work here. The horror element, in particular, is quite poorly handled, only really featuring sporadically (I don’t really count the scenes featuring the ghosts as horror aspects), mostly only being significant in the opening scenes, starting with a fairly gruesome (although not explicitly gory – this film is rated 12A after all) scene involving one of the murder victims and followed by a series of news reports that bring up to date with the victim count thus far – the murders all take place before the film actually begins. The humour is also a mixed bag, mostly being of the silly, slapstick variety and failing to provide many really big laughs. Expect curry puns a plenty, some fairly funny if extremely predictable one-liners, a range of curry and Indian food related murders and lots of undead related gags, most of which will only really amuse more undemanding viewers. This is pretty much it in the way of humour for much of the duration but there are a few scenes that do manage to provide some big laughs, the most notable being a quite hilarious spoof of the infamous prom night scene from horror classic Carrie with the high school prom being substituted by an Indian engagement party.

If the whole film were up to the standard of this scene it could be something quite memorable but sadly the writing mostly fails to pack a big enough punch, the story meandering somewhat at times, the dialogue only occasionally being funny and many of the gags falling flat. The romance at the heart of the story does at least manage to be sweet though and a strong, believable and delightful chemistry between Goldy Notay and Sendhil Ramamurthy ensures that we both believe in it and really are rooting for things to work out. Individually, both are also strong performers, Notay being likable and sincere and Ramamurthy delivering pure charm and charisma in his performance. Sally Hawkins is also excellent, delivering the film’s funniest, scene stealing performance, as a character whose psychic ability allows for some comic gold, what little of it there is in this film. A whole host of recognisable British faces also appear throughout the film, among them Zoë Wanamaker, Sanjeev Baskar (as one of the murder victims/ghosts, the others being played by Shaheen Khan, Adlyn Ross and Ash Varrez), Steve Jones and Jimi Mistry. In general, the cast members all do a good job in their roles, in fact, but weak material means that they aren’t given much to work with for the most part. So, while, It’s A Wonderful Afterlife is a very watchable film and one that doesn’t take itself too seriously, the whole is less than the sum of its parts, making for something that, while mildly enjoyable is rather forgettable. The afterlife really isn’t that wonderful, just ok.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

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