by Ruth Floresca

Created on: January 19, 2011

I think most of us have notions of what it would be like when a person dies although our individual ideas most likely differ. That is probably why so many books and films about death and the afterlife are continuously being made.

In the movie Hereafter, the story explores what lies beyond life from three different perspectives. Matt Damon plays George, an American psychic trying to break free from people who want his help in having one last moment with a loved one who has passed away. Cecile de France portrays Marie, a French journalist with a near-death experience that affected her choices from then on. And Frankie/George McLaren is an English schoolboy who is desperately looking for answers after losing the most important person in his life. All felt alone and are seeking for closure.

The three characters have experiences that somehow connect them to each other. Each goes on a journey where their lives will intersect and be forever changed by the things they find out about the hereafter. Having the characters live in different parts of the world contributes to the story’s universal feel. In a way, it shows viewers that death affects everybody through various means.

There are several things to be impressed about in the movie. The ravishing of a massive tsunami through a whole town looked so real, it was scary. I appreciate how the creators of the film illustrated how life after death must look like. It wasn’t sensationalized and it fits the story’s slightly dark and brooding feel. The black and white and blurry images left much to the audience’s imagination. I think that tone respects the various convictions of people.

Clint Eastwood, the director, aptly describes, “People have their beliefs about what’s there or what’s not there, but those are all hypotheticals. Nobody knows until you get there.” I agree.

Most people won’t experience death like how it touched the three characters in the story. But somehow, anybody who will see the movie would be able to identify with the central themes such as love, connections, and loss. We may not go through some of the experiences portrayed as strongly as they did, but we could definitely relate to them.

I was a little disappointed about the ending though. I felt like I was waiting for something bigger to happen that didn’t. Still, the whole story has reminded me how fleeting life could be and that we all have to treasure the time we have on Earth by making sure the people we love know how much we care for them before they, or us, are gone.

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