It's a Wonderful Afterlife

2010 "Finding the right man can be murder"
5.4| 1h40m| en
Details

Indian mother Mrs Sethi's obsession with marrying off her daughter turns murderous. With jokes that routinely miss the mark and cringeworthy slapstick, this black comedy farce shouldn't work. Somehow, though, it does.

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Reviews

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!
Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Prismark10 Gurinder Chadha brings on her masala mix with the punningly titled Its a wonderful afterlife.People in Southall are getting murdered rather gruesomely. In a homage to se7en one of them is forced to eat curry until he chokes and his stomach explodes. However all of the newly dead seemed to be stuck in a halfway ghostly state with their murderer.Their crimes? They called the murderer's daughter fat, too big to get married. Goldy Notay is the slightly on the heavy side jilted fiancée with a good heart but causing her mum (Shabana Azmi) to be stressed as she feels Goldy is being left on the shelf.Sally Hawkins plays Goldy's best friend who has acquiesced new age Indian beliefs after trip to India. Sendhil Ramamurthy is an old pal of Goldy who is also the police officer investigating the murders and has a thing for Goldy.After a crafty title you feel the film will be a riff on the more famous James Stewart film but its a soppy love story which takes bits from other movies. There is a Carrie bit, some of it reminded me of Stardust. Some of the characters were not believable, why was Mark Addy's Detective Inspector hell bent on framing Goldy up for the murders when DNA evidence ruled her out?There are a lot of fat jokes, many of them predictable and unfunny and overall although the film is amiable enough with a nice use of Black's hit song 'Its's a wonderful life' used in a sequence, I felt the film was undercooked both as a romance and a masala comedy.
wamanda_ london The premise may sound a little 'Serial Mom', with an over-protective mother ensuring that anyone who dares to slight her precious offspring doesn't live to regret it, but there the similarity ends. The victims return to haunt the mother in question and she must figure out a way to be rid of them as the body count rises. Despite homages to some well-known films, most notably a sweet Bridget Jones-esque moment where the unlucky-in-love heroine finds herself with two men vying for her attention, which ultimately descends into full-scale 'Carrie' territory, the film is a fairly original idea. Plus there is a perfect scene we all dream of: being passionately kissed by a hot bit of stuff in front of the ex. I only intended to watch a small part of this film to chill out before going to bed, but it kept me entertained until the end. Perhaps playing 'spot the EastEnders alumni' was a contributing factor. Unlikely to become a well-loved classic like its (almost) namesake, but good, ghostly fun.
james__uk Unfairly slated Ealing-style slapstick comedy. Obviously fun to make, with familiar faces and heart-warming family drama, along the lines of "OMG what is Mum doing now?", as she tries to solve her daughter's seemingly non-existent marriage prospects. Along the way, the audience bops along to Indian remixes of popular western disco and pop, and wonders how an unlikely murderer will meet their fate. The plot is unsophisticated yet gripping. The dialog is natural, with gags, but the film's undeniable humour comes from the same loving, awkward moments that drive it's story. I can't see anyone walking out of this movie, unless they don't wish to be entertained.It's a Wonderful Afterlife (2010) is not a work-of-art, not a beautifully made film. But it does not try to be. It is a funny murder-love-story with falling down moments, with familiar actors having a blast making ridiculous comedy. If you want a horror show, or a logical plot, then it may let you down. But for laughs, and for a screenful of some of our most popular actors (with new faces too), it will tickle you. Nothing much to complain about here, if you love life.
TopBobUK Certainly not as bad as other reviews have made out. I knew nothing about the film in advance but had an expectation of a humorous horror. That's what I got. I didn't expect an Oscar winner, or something taxing with multiple subplots, or some subtext relating to Bolshevik Russia - and I wasn't disappointed in this. In terms of horror, comedy, crime thriller, love story, family relationships and everything else thrown into the film I found most aspects were topped by other films. None of these bits rose above the others and none stood out as particularly good. It was therefore a bit mellow and so a pretty simple watch. Some pop stars these days are raved about but I really wouldn't have them as anything other than background music at a dinner party. This warranted a bit more attention than a background film whilst I potter about the house, although I was occasionally tempted to grab a cup of tea and check my phone for emails/messages without pausing it. I am sure was not the wish of the director/producer. However, there was enough to hold me for the whole film. I thought the presentation and acting was as expected with the whole thing being slightly above average - hence the 6/10.