|
Life After Beth
| Released |
1 October 2014 |
| Director |
Jeff Baena |
Starring
|
Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Paul Reiser, Cheryl Hines, Matthew Gray Gubler, Anna Kendrick |
| Writer(s) |
Jeff Baena |
| Producer(s) |
Elizabeth Destro, Michael Zakin |
| Origin |
United States |
| Running Time |
89 minutes |
| Genre |
Comedy, horror, romance |
| Rating |
15A |
|
|
A dead end.
As supernatural beings go, zombies are singularly uninteresting. Lacking the charisma and dynamism of other movie monsters, they are merely cyphers upon which it is possible for directors to project their world views. From George Romero’s satires on race and consumer culture, to Edgar Wright’s comedic approach to arrested development, it is not the zombies that make films great, but the ideas that surround them. This is a point that has been entirely missed by first time director Jeff Baena. Life After Beth is an entirely pointless addition to the zombie canon and overall has the feeling of a good pun that got out of hand.
We meet Zach Orfman (Dane DeHaan) on the day of his girlfriend’s funeral. Although we get the picture that their relationship may have been coming to an end, he is still distraught at the loss of Beth (Aubrey Plaza). Looking for comfort, he begins to spend a lot of time with Beth’s parents (John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon) but suddenly, they stop returning his calls. When Zach drops by to investigate, he discovers the shocking truth - Beth has mysteriously come back to life. At first, Zach sees this miracle as a second chance for their relationship but soon Beth begins to change, developing a propensity for violence and cannibalism.
Life After Beth shares a lot of characteristics with its zombie protagonist - shambling around aimlessly and mindlessly, without ever really getting anywhere. This makes for a rather confusing viewing experience. On the face of it, Life After Beth seems to be pitching itself as a quirky comedy-horror; a Shaun of the Dead for hipsters. The script however is completely useless and leaves the cast floundering, straining to make comedy gold from deeply mediocre material. DeHaan, an intense performer not exactly renowned for his comedy chops, looks particularly lost and no matter how much the ensemble throw themselves into their roles (Plaza in particular) ultimately they cannot overcome the failings of the writer/director.
The zombie film is an undead phenomenon that is becoming increasingly difficult to resurrect and Life After Beth is certainly not the film to do so.
- Linda O’Brien |
