I am not 100% sure of the official name of this film because Prime Video lists it as Here After (not to be confused with the 2010 Clint Eastwood film Hereafter), but a Google search redirects you to Faraway Eyes. After its initial release in 2020, the movie was re-released with a new name but I can’t remember which came first. For the sake of this article, I’m sticking with Here After.
Here After is a long-winded story about Michael (Andy Karl), a struggling actor who has died and ended up in some strange New York City purgatory. For reasons I can’t quite put my finger on, Andy Karl emanates this basic vibe of “WinCo brand Paul Rudd.” His character is every white male; a sympathetic white knight character with a high self esteem and not much personality.
In most ways, he’s comparable to a ghost because he can see, but not touch living beings around him. Living humans can’t see him, however, which is deeply distressing to him.
His mission in this purgatory/hellscape/afterlife before the afterlife is to find his soulmate. Evidently, you can’t pass on until you find yours, or so Scarlet (Christina Ricci), some sort of corporate supervisor of this world, claims.
After drifting through this world and discovering he can still drink alcohol for some reason, Michael eventually meets a living woman in a bar. Yes, you read that right… she can see him! Her legal name is… wait for it… Honey Bee. (Nora Amezeder.)
The two strike up a friendship and soon Michael falls in love. Convinced Honey Bee is his soulmate, he begs Scarlet to help him figure out their plight but she is dismissive and reminds him that he must find his soulmate and move on.
I’m surprised this film managed to hire Christina Ricci, since the only other actor I recognized was the weird landlord’s son from While You Were Sleeping (Michael Riscoli.) Pair them with the stunning French actress and generic white guy, and you get the feeling something is missing.
The movie plays with the idea of predetermined fate vs choice, but ultimately I was dissatisfied with the ending.
There were so many opportunities for character growth and abstract concepts to be presented in this film, but they were sorely missed. I give Here After a 3/10.
The Midnight Review 