Film

Afterlife

Name: Afterlife
Genre: Drama, Family
Released: 2019
Cast: Sanaa Giwa, Romana Vrede, Gijs Scholten van Aschat, Jan-Paul Buijs, Ria Eimers

A Dutch family drama about Sam, a meticulous 14-year-old who dies and encounters her deceased mother in the afterlife. She discovers a path back to the living, but it comes with an impossible choice. Tender and surprisingly matter-of-fact about grief, it treats death as a logistics problem a brilliant girl might solve.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like quiet family dramas that grieve through small, awkward domestic gestures and let a teenager's stubborn competence carry the emotion more than any big speech.

Skip it if you need the afterlife to be a dazzling, rule-filled spectacle, because this one is hushed, slow and sad, with little plot momentum beyond its quiet central pull.

What it asks of you: Ninety minutes, unhurried and gentle, with a grief that settles into household chores and school runs; it wants patience more than close attention.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

A Ghost Story2017

Achingly poetic about loss and time. A sheet-wearing ghost watches his house and wife across decades, asking what it means to linger. Emotionally devastating in a quiet, sustained way.

But Very slow and abstract. If you want narrative momentum or clear answers, you will be frustrated.

What Dreams May Come1998

Robin Williams in a visually baroque afterlife, reuniting with his dead wife. It swings for profound emotion about grief and the choices we make for those we love, and mostly lands.

But The CGI is dated and the tone lurches between whimsy and solemnity. It can feel overwrought.

The Innocents2016

Norwegian film about two children discovering they can see ghosts. Beautifully shot, genuinely eerie, and deeply concerned with childhood loneliness and connection across the boundary between worlds.

But Slower than it sounds, with long stretches of atmosphere over plot. The supernatural elements are subtle.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Afterlife

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Wings of Desire1987

Both hinge on the boundary between the living and the dead as a geography you can walk between. Both ask: once you've seen the other side, can you live in this one?

Wenders' masterpiece: angels watching over divided Berlin, one choosing to become human. Philosophical and lyrical about what it means to live, to feel, to be present. Shot in black-and-white and colour.

But Philosophical rather than narrative-driven. Deliberately paced. If you want a story to carry you, this asks you to carry yourself.

Truly Madly Deeply1991

Dead lover returns as a ghost to visit the woman he left behind. Combines warmth and silliness with real anguish about letting go. British and deeply humane.

But Doesn't maintain the ghostly premise for long, and the tone shifts significantly. If you want sustained magic realism, keep looking.

Coco2017

Pixar's best work: a boy travels to the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather. Visually stunning, hilarious, and genuinely moving about memory, family obligation, and what we leave behind.

But Animated. Some find the animation style saccharine, and it's much broader in tone than *Afterlife*.

The Others2001

Nicole Kidman in an immaculate ghost story set in a foggy manor. Atmospheric, intricate, and the ending rewires everything that came before. Masterclass in misdirection.

But Relies entirely on its twist. Once you know it, there's little reason to revisit. Quite slow-burn.

Life After Beth2014

A teen's zombie girlfriend returns from the dead. Pitch-black comedy that's genuinely funny while asking real questions about love and loss and holding on too tight.

But The tone is deliberately absurd and tragicomic. If you want sincere emotion uncut, the comedy undercuts it.

Always1989

Spielberg's ghost romance: a firefighter pilot returns to guide his grieving girlfriend. Sweeping, sincere, and earnest about grief turning into love for the living to move forward.

But Dated special effects and a tone that feels hopelessly 1989. The performance style may read as theatrical now.

The Farewell2019

Both are about children carrying responsibility toward the dead and dying. Both refuse to treat death as the story's climax—what comes after, how the living adjust, is what matters.

A Chinese family decides to hide a terminal diagnosis from their dying grandmother. Comedy and tragedy woven so tightly you laugh and ache simultaneously. Radiant, wise, and culturally specific without being narrow.

But The emotional logic is not Western. If you expect individual feelings to drive plot, you may struggle with the family-first framework.