A chance meeting on a bus leads to the lives of Freddy (Steve Strait) and Ana (Karolina Wydra), residents of a quiet American town becoming forever intertwined; after waking up suddenly following a devastating crash in a sequence more than a little reminiscent of 28 days, the two survivors awaken to find their town deserted. Forced to work together and demonstrating some real chemistry Ana and Freddy try to piece together what is happening.
The first half an hour of this film builds a strong and inviting thriller, but as the film progresses After’s fantasy aspect begins to take hold. They discover the town is slowly being engulfed by an unexplainable black cloud and our chance pairing, now hunted by a flesh eating monster, are faced with vivid recreations of childhood memories which reveal that their lives have shared a dark connection following a chance meeting a long time ago.
My initial impression was that the film’s plot seems a little bit farfetched, and yes this is a fantasy thriller but at first it had the air of two scripts flung together. Yet as it goes on and as we move toward its big reveal this is significantly softened and although portions of the film seem ill-fitting – as a whole – After has a charming nature and surprised me in how well it worked, but also how strongly I felt for the characters.
Steve Srait and Karolina Wydra give good, albeit not outstanding performances with Strait’s feeling a touch more authentic. They begin a little bland, but as they are forced to occupy this otherwise deserted setting we see the growth of an honest connection and I think you’ll find it hard not to root for them to win. The characters are also real; they could be any one of us. Neither are outstandingly heroic or pitifully weak, they have flaws and limits and above all, their fairly average people.
The only strong criticism I have with this film is the imbalance in the sound levels. Director, Ryan Smith certainly intended to create a quiet brooding atmosphere broken by shock and awe moments of intense action and his choice of moment is perfection; but the film is plagued by an imbalance of muffled mumbling speech followed by the infrequent but intense noise of action sequences which are simply too contrasting in their volume levels.
After is one you have to keep watching. It builds slowly but bear with it and After is a unique and enthralling thriller with a truly inventive script. Though it takes an unexpected fantastical turn, about half-way through, this only improves the film and adds that individual touch more independent films are renowned for. This is film I would definitely recommend as a mid-week watch and although it’ll never enter the realm of a classic, or perhaps even cult status it is more than worth watching.
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