Review of Life After Beth (2014) by Brett C — 18 Jan 2015

Review In A Nutshell:

I was one of the rare few who were able to find value within Jeff Baena's screenplay for I Heart Huckabees, dealing with the physics of life and reality, rather than the emotional aspects of it; which most films tend to dwell on. Here in Life After Beth, Baena has included himself in the director's chair, handling his own screenplay that dwells on themes of death, regret, resurrection, and promise. The film overall when, compared to his previously written film, is less ambitious, narrowing its scope to a more accessible level; which left me both simultaneously sad and happy, as though its ideas are easier to comprehend, the execution of it is poorly handled.

The film begins with Beth going for a solo hike and hears a mysterious noise behind her, and then it transitions to her funeral; showing her family and boyfriend, the film's protagonist (Zach), along with other guests, mourning for her loss. It spends a couple of minutes showing how the people closest to her are grieving over her death, but within the next day, it is revealed that she has come back to life, digging herself from under the ground, unable to remember anything aside from the idea that she has a test the next day that she needs to study for; which is not true due to the fact that its summer vacation. It is from her reveal that the film finally started to let itself go a bit and be comedic, the previous scenes were handled with a sense of darkness that made the tragedy feel heavy. It is certainly bold of Baena to take this approach as it could put off a lot of viewers; it worked well with me but the handling of it is not flawless.

It was in the reactions that Zach displays that left me in spots of laughter throughout the film; executed with such subtlety and naturalism that it felt convincing and logical; even the parents of Beth who would do whatever in their power to protect their daughter from knowing the truth; giving her a second opportunity for a real life. Their desperation was also hilarious to see, and it was all done so that never felt ridiculous; based on rational perspective and decisions. Though the film had its moments, it did however feel overly stretched, with not enough plot to support its length.

As the film progresses, we see that there is more to Beth's revival than what she projects, showing marks of deterioration and aggression that confirms Zach's initial instinct, that she is a zombie. Life After Beth may seem like a film that is all about story and less about the deeper ideas it is trying to convey, but Baena was able to sneak in character development in its two core characters, Zach and Beth, and create subtle metaphors of internal grief and unfulfilled promises. It becomes plainly obvious in its final 10-20 minutes but I think this was due to Baena, feeling self-conscious on whether his audiences would be able to pick up on his deeper intentions for the film.

In regards to the performances, I thought the casting of Dane DeHaan and Aubrey Plaza was spot on; Plaza already has the inherent death look in her eyes, therefore not needing much to sell the role. Plaza was committed in making her role convincing, creating a sense of innocence in the earlier parts of the film then slowly revealing deeper feelings of aggression and delusional perspectives; she was also able to let her character be physically convincing, moving with such unpredictability that it was hard not to be shocked once in a while. DeHaan, as I said earlier, allowed the character to feel real in the way emotions are being projected, not resulting in clichéd hysteria when witnessing the paranormal. It was also in the way he converses with the character's family members that made the character interesting, the idea that nobody could understand what he is going through, which is very typical of a film like this but given its context, it felt far more convincing. The supporting players were also great, boasting convincing performances from both John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon, as Beth's parents; spitting out lines and awkward delivery that constantly left me with a smile on my face. Also there was a very minor role filled in by Anna Kendrick that would have been great if given more screen time.

Life After Beth no doubt has its flaws, but one cannot help but commend Baena for his bold direction, taking the story in places that may have been too dark for a comedy, and it boasts great performances from both DeHaan and Plaza, and its supporting cast.