This tale of three unrelated characters connected by their experiences with death unfolds at such a leisurely pace that I was concerned the 2 hour 9 minute running time wouldn't be enough to allow it to reach its conclusion.
Director Eastwood takes his own sweet time creating fully rounded lives for each of the characters, and that's not intended as a criticism. He immerses us in the world each of the three inhabits, making them and their actions feel honest and organic.
HEREAFTER starts from the premise that there is an afterlife but it struggles to articulate just what that might be beyond a bright blurry image of figures standing in a never-ending white landscape. Eastwood wisely steers clear of embracing religious concepts of eternal life but in doing so veers a little too close to New Age interpretations of life after death. The film's sympathies are clearly with Marie but offers little in the way of evidence to support her claims when they are met with understandable skepticism by friends and colleagues.
However it's not the film's standpoint that lets it down but its meandering sprawl. This approach to storytelling is interesting for the first hour while the narrative thrust is forward facing but as it enters the second hour the movement becomes more lateral and the film's hold on my attention began to slip.
Eastwood pulls it all back together for the final denouement but it's only partially satisfying because it leaves too many unanswered questions.Much of the positivity I felt toward HEREAFTER at its midway point had evaporated by the closing credit sequence. I don't regret watching it, I just have no desire to ever watch it again.
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