Written and directed by Jeff Baena
Starring Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, Molly Shannon, Cheryl Hines, Paul Reiser, Matthew Gray Gubler and John C. Reilly
USA, 2014
I’ve long been curious about LIFE AFTER BETH, even before I saw other films by the same filmmaker, Jeff Baena. At first, just knowing it starred Aubrey Plaza and was about a guy’s girlfriend who comes back as a zombie intrigued me. Good star, good premise. But then, later, after I saw Baena’s crazy movies like THE LITTLE HOURS and SPIN ME ROUND, I thought – I really gotta see this.
Turns out I didn’t really HAVE to. LIFE AFTER BETH has a good premise – a regular guy is depressed over the death of his girlfriend, only to find out she has returned as a zombie – but the execution is off. Which is too bad because if you read the cast list above you can see that there’s a lot of talent behind this. It just doesn’t amount to much.
By the end of the movie, we’re in the middle of a full-on zombie apocalypse and the movie doesn’t really do anything unique or different with it. I guess no one really has since Danny Boyle, right? Oh wait, there was ZOMBIELAND. Okay, since ZOMBIELAND, then.
Aubrey Plaza does her best with the weak material but it’s sort of a one-note joke that overstays its welcome. Maybe this should have been a short film or part of an anthology or something. As it stands, you can probably skip it.
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