Overview
A poignant exploration of life, death, and the memories that define us.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- contemplative
- wistful
- tender
- quiet evening
- reflective viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly acclaimed the film as a tender, distinctive, and deeply human meditation on memory, mortality, love, and filmmaking.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The deceased arrive at a social-service-style lodge where counselors process their passage and arrange their final memory.
Each dead person must identify one happiest memory to carry into eternity.
Counselors stage and film the chosen memories so the deceased can re-experience them before vanishing.
The lodge's afterlife premise supports gentle conversations about love, regret, identity, and emotional closure.
Films like After Life, and why
Wings of Desire
humanist fantasy, contemplative pacing, and meditation on memory and mortality
The Five People You Meet in Heaven
quietly moving afterlife premise, philosophical reflection, and gentle emotional register
Still Walking
Japanese humanism, family memory, restrained drama, and contemplation of impermanence
A Ghost Story
meditative supernatural drama centered on grief, memory, and unresolved emotional bonds
Movie Details
- Director
- Hirokazu Kore-eda
- Release Date
- 1999-04-17
- Runtime
- 118 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (299)
Cast
- Arata Iura
- Erika Oda
- Susumu Terajima
- Takashi Naito
- Kei Tani
- Kyōko Kagawa
- Tōru Yuri
- Yusuke Iseya
- Sayaka Yoshino
- Kazuko Shirakawa
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is After Life about?
- In a serene waystation beyond death, counselors help the newly deceased choose the single memory they will keep forever.
- What is After Life like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of After Life as slow, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is After Life violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in After Life as mild.
- What did critics think of After Life?
- Critics broadly acclaimed the film as a tender, distinctive, and deeply human meditation on memory, mortality, love, and filmmaking.
- Which films are like After Life?
- Films with a similar feel include Wings of Desire, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Still Walking, and A Ghost Story.
- How long is After Life?
- After Life runs 118 minutes.
- Where can I watch After Life?
- In United States, After Life is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
