Afterwards

Plot

Nathan, a brilliant New York lawyer who leads a life of professional success, but his private life is pretty dismal since he divorced Claire…

Release Year: 2008

Rating: 5.8/10 (1,719 voted)

Director:
Gilles Bourdos

Stars: Romain Duris, John Malkovich, Evangeline Lilly

Storyline
Nathan, a brilliant New York lawyer who leads a life of professional success, but his private life is pretty dismal since he divorced Claire, his only love. Until he meets Doctor Kay, a mysterious doctor who introduces himself as a "Messenger." He claims that he can sense when certain people are about to die, and that he is sent to help them put their life in order before it's too late. Nathan doesn't believe a word of this, but soon afterwards he witnesses some disconcerting scenes which seem to confirm the doctor's claims.

Writers: Michel Spinosa, Gilles Bourdos

Cast:

Romain Duris
–

Nathan

John Malkovich
–

Kay

Evangeline Lilly
–

Claire

Pascale Bussières
–

Anna

Sara Waisglass
–

Tracey

Reece Thompson
–

Jeremy

(as Reece Daniel Thompson)

Bruno Verdoni
–

Doctor

Joan Gregson
–

Mother in law

Mark Camacho
–

Lawyer

Robin Wilcock
–

Lawyer

Edward Yankie
–

Lawyer

Carlo Mestroni
–

Lawyer

Glenda Braganza
–

Rachel

Leni Parker
–

Admission clerk

Henri Pardo
–

Haitian spokesman

Details

Official Website:
Official site [France] |
Official site [United States] |

Release Date: 14 January 2009

Filming Locations: Alamogordo, New Mexico, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $15,400,000

(estimated)

Opening Weekend: €825,672
(France)
(18 January 2009)
(250 Screens)

Gross: €51,686
(Belgium)
(25 January 2009)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Canada: 107 min
(Toronto International Film Festival)
 |
Argentina: 104 min

Did You Know?

Trivia:

Several of the crew had already worked with director/co-writer Gilles Bourdos on other films, such as co-writer Michel Spinosa, a collaborator of Bourdos' ever since the start of his career, and cinematographer Ping Bin Lee who served the same duties on
A Sight for Sore Eyes.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible:
In the scene where Nathan approaches an ambulance from behind, his feet are reflected in the shiny metal at the bottom of the vehicle's rear doors. Also reflected are the feet of the cameraman following him.

User Review

A film about learning how to live

Rating: 9/10

For a movie that concerned itself so much with death and dying, I was
surprised at how much it said about life and learning how to live.
Anyone who has been through a period of personal evolution will be able
to relate to the main character as he reflects on the past events of
his life and begins to change the dynamic of how he lives going
forward. Those who haven't already reached these conclusions on their
own will probably find it more difficult to understand.

I believe the reserved performance by the main character was a perfect
representation of a man who is led by his career and by practical
matters, and has shut himself off from his emotions and any real sense
of living. Malkovich plays the somewhat creepy, mysterious benefactor
of insights unseen (until the end of the movie) and delivers everything
you'd expect from him in such a role. The female characters generate
the same sympathy and compassion from the audience as they do from
their male counterparts in the film, and that's why this movie works.
If we are moved, we understand how they would be moved.

Preparing oneself to die by truly embracing life is not the theme I was
expecting from this movie, but it's probably a better one than what I
was looking for. I generally classify movies like this as "must see"
films because anyone that hasn't figured something like this out on
their own, really should. And the sooner, the better.