after life (1998) is set in an old-fashioned social services-like place, where the dead go and get three days to pick a single memory out of their entire life that they will take with them into the afterlife. the premise itself made me really wanna watch the movie when i read about it, because like. thats an interesting thing to think about! what would i do if i had to pick a single memory from my life, to spend the rest of eternity in? it feels like theres simultaneously too many memories and also no memories at all that are so important that i could definitely pick it as my one, single, most important, memory.
and the movie treats all of this in a really ordinary way. everyone acts like normal people making a difficult decision. different kinds of people are represented, different reactions to having to make a decision like this are represented. but throughout the entire movie, it never feels supernatural or extraordinary, and i think that made it really cozy to watch. it made all of it feel much easier to relate to as well. the movie is filmed sort of like a documentary at times, with lots of segments where its just a typical interview shot while someone talks about their completely normal life, and tries to think about which memories from that life are most important to them.
but what i liked a lot too was that it doesn't only focus on the recently deceased, but also on the people who work at this place. we learn more about the lives they lead, why they work here, and how they feel about working here. i love how normal everyone treats this like, completely supernatural job. theyre literally the people responsibly for transitioning others into the afterlife, but its just another job, they say. some of them wonder why they even do this. sometimes they rant to each other about especially difficult people who are having a hard time picking a memory, and it all feels so human and mundane. theres more detailed stuff i'd say here but i'd much rather anyone reading this watches the movie for themselves and then lets me know what they think (leave a comment or email me about it!)
anyways, i definitely liked this movie. even if every time i think about it, my brain instantly does also want to describe it as "boring". i think the mundanity of it is what makes it so charming to me.