Hereafter

Ratings: 8.1/10
Film Class: B
Genre: Drama

Hereafter revolves around 3 main characters, an American pyschic who's able to communicate with the dead, a French woman who had a near-death experience and a young British boy who had just lost his twin brother. There has been so much talk about how this movie is inferior to The Sixth Sense and quite frankly, anyone who compares this movie to the latter is utterly clueless about what he or she is talking about.

First off, the only similarity between the two are that the characters were able to communicate with the dead. And secondly, this movie is on a totally different genre and a totally different class compared to M. Night Shyamalan's work. Hereafter is possibly the most heartwarming Hollywood movie about death there is right now.

No scares, no exaggerations and no boring moments amidst the massive loads of dialogues. This movie was beautiful, elegant and has won its way to one of my top movies of all time. Somehow, my sentiments towards Clint Eastwood's movies are an exact opposite to the general audience. Whilst many have favored his Gran Torino and Million Dollar Baby, I think this is his best piece till date. Haven't caught Invictus or Letters from Iwo Jima, and Changeling and Mystic River though good, didn't engage me as much as this movie.

I'm sure everyone has lost someone important in their life who holds that special place in their hearts. This is a movie which made me reminiscence about that one important person, and had me thinking what I would do if I knew there truly was a pyshic who was able to communicate with the dead. Clint Eastwood delivered a commendable job for addressing pyschics without making it too cliche.

*major spoilers ahead* I'm sceptical about the real credibility of psychics, and there was a particular scene in the movie which addresses that important issue. So many self-proclaimed psyhics out there are masquerading as such just to rip off heartbroken individuals of their money, and the real ones (if any) are actually trying to lead a normal life because of their "gift" or in this case, he first need to help himself. Note that throughout the movie, though mention was made in the past where Matt Damon did it for money, there wasn't a single time in "real time" that showed him collecting any cash for what he did. He did them purely for unselfish reasons.

There's an exceptional good feel to it. And though I would have loved for the lady he met during his cooking class to end up with him, it just reiterated how difficult it was for a person like him to lead a normal life. I liked how the 3 unseemingly related characters were able to come together at the end, though not an original idea about linking characters together at the end, still felt it tied up "loose" ends very well.

There was another scene which blew me away. The scene where the little boy finally met up with Matt Damon to do a reading. The initial scene about his brother's cap falling off felt like his deceased brother did that just to save him. But from the reading scene, there seemed to be some abiguity in it. It would appear that his deceased brother did that just because he didn't want his twin brother to be holding onto him, but it coincidentally saved his life. So in other words, his deceased brother couldn't predict the future, which would have sounded a little far-fetched. The latter explanation was actually more plausible.

It was that same scene, however, that re-emphasized the only flaw about this movie... the not-so-convincing acting by the little boy. Matt Damon, on the other hand showed just how great an actor he was. Just by the look in his eyes, his facial expressions and tone of his voice, he was able to bring out the pain he was suffering inside.

In addition, subplots like how Matt Damon's brother was trying to make use of him to make money seemed very applicable in today's world, and that after finally being able to "speak" to his deceased brother, the young boy was able to move on with his life, all of which made the movie more "complete" than it already was. His relationship (their relationship) with his mother was an endearing episode and the ending scene signed the movie off with a beautiful feel.

I wouldn't say this movie is a deep movie. It's a serious one for sure. Moving, absorbing and unexpectedly elegant. With strong quotes and ideology like "It's not a gift, it's a curse" and about the afterlife, together with excellent scripting and a melancholic yet captivating score to go along with it, Hereafter is a gem not to be missed!!!