Hereafter

Plot synopsis:
On assignment in Thailand, French television journalist Marie Lelay (Cécile de France) is shopping for souvenirs for her lover Didier (Thierry Neuvic)'s children. She finds a stand where a mother and her daughter work; they sell gifts to Marie for a dollar. Didier looks over the balcony and witnesses the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami coming into shore. It hits as Marie watches from a distance. She grabs hold of the girl and runs away from the shore but is quickly swallowed by the wave. Pulled lifeless from the water, she is resuscitated by rescuers but is left for dead. She gasps back to life after having a near-death experience in which she sees a vision of human figures inhabiting a realm of light, among them the silhouettes of the mother and daughter holding hands. Marie and Didier are soon reunited as the disaster subsides and they return to Paris. Marie's experience, however, interferes with her work performance to the point that Didier (who is also her producer) sends her on a leave of absence to write the book they've discussed, which would add to her prestige.
The story then turns to San Francisco where former professional psychic George Lonegan (Matt Damon) is persuaded against his wishes to perform a reading for Christos (Richard Kind), a wealthy client of his brother Billy (Jay Mohr). A genuine medium with a gift for communicating with the dead, George abandoned his old career because he was unable to deal with the emotional impact of the reunions and the often disturbingly intimate family secrets revealed. While doing the reading, George hears the word June and asks if a date in June means anything to him. Christos at first denies that it means anything, but privately reveals to Billy that June was the name of his late wife's nurse, whom he was in love with for ten years.
From there, 12-year-old London twins Jason and Marcus (Frankie and George McLaren) try desperately to prevent their alcoholic, heroin-addicted mother, Jackie (Lyndsey Marshal), from losing them to social services. After evading the authorities yet again, the boys' mother sends Jason to the chemist (pharmacist) to pick up her detox prescription, having finally decided to get clean. On the way home, Jason is attacked by street thugs, and while trying to escape, he is hit by a van and killed. No longer able to protect his mother, and barely able to cope with life without the brother he idolizes, Marcus is sent to a foster home.
Now writing a book and with more time to contemplate her near-death experience, Marie travels to Switzerland to meet a renowned specialist in the field. As the director of a hospice who has seen her share of dying patients, the doctor describes herself as a former skeptic who was convinced by the evidence that the afterlife exists and that people like Marie have had a genuine view of it. She persuades Marie to write a book on her experience in the hope that the scientific community will ultimately accept the reality of life beyond death.
Desperate for one last reunion with his twin brother, Marcus steals money from his foster parents (Niamh Cusack and George Costigan) and goes around London seeking someone to help him contact Jason. He encounters only frauds and pretenders. While he is trying to board the underground at Charing Cross, Jason's cap, which has become a talisman for Marcus, blows off his head. Delayed by trying to find the cap, he misses his train and sees it explode in the tunnel during the 2005 London Bombings.
George enrolls in a cooking class taught by one of San Francisco's leading chefs. Its students are paired-up, resulting in George being partnered with a young woman named Melanie (Bryce Dallas Howard). The two soon hit it off and after attending their second class decide to put their new culinary skills to use by preparing an Italian dinner at George's place. All goes well until they hear an ill-timed phone message from his brother, which inclines George to reveal his past as a psychic to Melanie. Curious, she presses George to do a reading for her. George explains his reluctance, but acquiesces. They contact the spirit of Melanie's father, who ends the session by asking her forgiveness for what he did to her as a child. Melanie flees George's home in tears, and she doesn't return to the cooking class.
Having been in talks with a publisher before her trip to Thailand about a biography of François Mitterrand, Marie now stuns them with her new manuscript entitled "Hereafter: A Conspiracy of Silence". The publisher (Jean-Yves Berteloot) rejects the manuscript but soon steers her toward other publishers who might be interested, the most promising of them in London.
Marie learns from Didier that he does not intend on having her back at the job he urged her to take leave of, because her public interest in the hereafter damages her reputation as a serious journalist, and that he is having an affair with the woman who replaced her on the TV news program.
George is laid off from his factory job, and is persuaded by Billy to revive his psychic practice. Still heartbroken over the fiasco with Melanie, he changes his mind and impulsively leaves San Francisco to make a new start elsewhere. He travels to London and listens every night to audiobook readings by Derek Jacobi of Charles Dickens' works. As a Dickens devotee, he also visits the Dickens Museum and attends a live reading of Dickens at the London Book Fair. There, one of the presenters is Marie, reading her now published book, Hereafter. While handing a signed copy of her book to George, their hands touch and George has a psychic flash of Marie's tsunami drowning.
Marcus and his foster parents are also at the London Book Fair. Asking leave of them, Marcus spots George, someone he has read about and seen online. Marcus attempts to speak with the medium, who brushes him off and returns to his hotel. Marcus follows him, standing outside the hotel until nightfall. Eventually George asks him in and agrees to do his reading.
Through George, Jason tells Marcus that he is happy in the afterlife. He instructs Marcus to stop wearing his cap and says it was he who knocked it off his head at the train station. It was used, he says, to keep Marcus from the doomed train but now he must stand on his own. Jason tells him not to fear this "because we are one". As Marcus leaves George, he says he is sorry about "the French woman" as he could tell that "you like her." The last time we see Marcus, he is visiting his mother in a rehab center. She is visibly better and he is not wearing Jason's cap.
Marcus lets George know where Marie is staying. George leaves an anonymous note for Marie, saying he believes her book to be true. She decides to join the anonymous fan for lunch and discovers George. While she is looking for him, George sees a vision of them kissing at the same meeting. Their shared glimpses of the hereafter having made them appreciate this life all the more, George and Marie walk away hand-in-hand.

Tags: paranormal

Review:
Moments arrive and disappear and the the people shift, move, appear and disappear.I think most of us need some kind of assurance that it all goes on forever, that our open windows aren't just blacked over and sealed at death.Clint Eastwood has made a quiet, reflective, thoughtful film on this condition, this need for forever.
I can see this film being a source of frustration for some viewers eager for a traditional conflict and resolution or character arc, but those things aren't really Eastwood's priority.The movie doesn't have much of a "point", other than how death is such an important part of all of our lives, even as it's also probably the most mysterious.
It sounds like Eastwood is employing the dreaded preference of "things" to "people," but in reality this is a perfect melding of characters to their environment.None of this is the kind of post-Elia Kazan acting our country is used to, but each of the actors do a remarkable job in communicating in this way.
Near-death experience, blessing or woe, cinematically described in the Peter Morgan scripted, Clint Eastwood directed enjoyable 3-fold poignant story.
There are vignettes depicting different social strata of life situations: rich and famous in the French television media and European publishing world as we follow a career-driven female journalist; quietly solo 'blue-collar worker' shying away from exposure of his 'possessed gift' in San Francisco; struggling addict, London single mom dealing with custody of her boys and the lone twin attachment to his lost brother.
Morgan skillfully scripted three intersecting story lines inclusive of contemporary social elements and events: natural disaster, bomb attack, fatal accident, culinary classes, corporate meetings, company layoffs, foster care, book fair.As in most of Eastwood directed films, there's never hurriedness or push for emphasis of themes.
I appreciate the palpable energy and loving care contributed to the accompanying music as the scenes reveal and the stories evolve - the guitar strains and the piano rhythm so aptly integrated to the movie experience.Along with screenwriter Peter Morgan, Steven Spielberg is one of the executive producers and it was said that he actually introduced the original draft to Eastwood, who promptly bought the rights to the book 'Hereafter.' There's an insightful article titled "Eastwood Breaks Another Mold" (by C.
Based on the trailers, I had a feeling it could be a bad film but nonetheless with both Matt Damon and Clint Eastwood behind it, I decided to give it a try.
Unfortunately, director Clint Eastwood, who I admire tremendously, lays an egg with "Hereafter", and produces a film that you can snore your way through.The thin plot centers around three characters and their stories: a French female reporter who has a near death experience; A twin who loses his twin to death; and a lonely factory worker who has a unique psychic ability to communicate with the dead, but is afraid to use it.All three stories unwind very, very slowly and then merge at the end.
All characters seem to resolve their personal dilemmas by the picture's end, but the audience is still left with an empty feeling of loss at having wasted almost two hours watching this boring charade of a movie.Like so many movies today, including "The American" this movie is truly a disappointment, given the hype in the trailers..
As much as I loved that great picture, it'll have to settle for second-place on my top five of the year list, right behind Clint Eastwood's "Hereafter." From the same man who first started acting in pictures and later directing them ("The Outlaw Josey Wales," "Unforgiven," "Million Dollar Baby," "Gran Torino," "Changeling", amongst others) comes a film that is as great as anything he had done yet.
It's one of the more touching and beautiful movies of recent years.I don't want to give too much of the surprise away, but I will tell you that is about three people, all of whom are seeking out answers concerning life and death...and the hereafter.
Is natural for people to be curious about death and this movie explores it gently.I liked very much watching George (Matt Damon) and Melanie (Bryce Dallas Howard) together.
I never thought I'd hear Clint Eastwood and supernatural in the same sentence, but it has to be good for Clint Eastwood to be on board.The film is focused on three different people, first is a french talk show host(Cecile DeFrance) who while on vacationing in Mexico, has a near death experience while encountering a disaster, when she gets back, she wants to tell about her experience, but her producer/boyfriend, says that would not be a good idea.And a man(Matt Damon), who has the ability to talk in the afterlife, wants to leave that life behind, and lead a normal life, but his past never seems to leave him alone.
There is also a French woman who has a near death experience and a troubled British boy grieving over the loss of a loved one.I am not a firm believer in a hereafter life or psychic abilities, and what is great about this movie is that it addresses these issues in an intelligent way without asking the audience to debate their existence.
There is also a French woman who has a near death experience and a troubled British boy grieving over the loss of a loved one.I am not a firm believer in a hereafter life or psychic abilities, and what is great about this movie is that it addresses these issues in an intelligent way without asking the audience to debate their existence.
I know this movie won't be for everyone but this performance is one of the greats, a real tour de force of subtlety.Lastly, the writing, the story is something not seen often enough these days, a thoughtful movie about a complex and emotive subject that doesn't treat the audience like idiots.
At one time this was the purview of organized religion, but over the past century they've lost their monopoly.Hereafter concerns three people, American psychic Matt Damon, French journalist Cecile De France, and British adolescent Frank/George McLaren who are twins and play the same role.
I know that feeling too, a lot of it is losing someone and never having had a chance to say goodbye to them.Though Hereafter got an Oscar for visual effects both for the tsunami and later for a London Subway bombing, Clint Eastwood gets some good performances out of his human cast members as well.
Its hard to remember that great directors are the most versatile ones and Clint Eastwood simply proves this by making a sad, Babel-esquire movie about trauma and death.Hereafter follows three stories about death.
Morgan and Eastwood's ideas on death may not be for everybody, especially because the movie never deals with religion, but nevertheless, it is still an unusual and enthralling story.The acting from most of the main cast is very good as well.
Although the may just be children and one cannot expect much from child actors, there have been much more believable and better child performances.Clint Eastwood has made a good movie with Hereafter.
From a tour de force opening tsunami scene to a somewhat odd and disappointing, but quiet end, Hereafter is a unique movie from a person that one may not expect to make this kind of film.Note: My rating would be a 7.5/10 (or 3/4) if I could give it half-stars..
i'm sure i'm not the only one who wondered "where is this movie going!?" throughout the entirety of the film, only to be let down once you finally see the dull ending.i'm baffled as to how this worthless flick got a 7.6/10 rating on IMDb. and i'm as big of an eastwood fan as any.
For most of the film there seemed to be 3 almost totally separate plots -- the young French reporter in the tsunami (great special effects, BTW), the young British twin, and the American psychic (Matt Damon).
And the only reasonable sense is that whatever one may think, what urges to believe in something after death is the love for the dear ones who are no longer with us.The simplicity and the tact of perspective are clearly reflected by the form of the movie, marked as it is by a very simple but always successful narrative style, three stories which develop in a parallel way, until they meet in the end, satisfying also a viewer who often wants things to get together.
I respect the career which was forged by actor/director/producer/musician Clint Eastwood very much, from his humble origins as an actor in exploitation movies (let's accept it, the "spaghetti westerns" he was involved in are revered today, but in their moment, they were cheap Italian copies of a popular North American genre; and the films in which he interpreted the character Harry "Make My Day" Callahan belonged to the revenge cinema which was hugely popular in drive-ins and "grindhouses" during the '70s), to being an acclaimed director who received abundant awards and nominations.
I had high expectations for this movie being a big fan of other films that Clint Eastwood has directed, but this one was such a let down.
The film works best with George's story, Matt Damon, flabbier than his Bourne days, playing the nervous, jaded psychic as everyday man with a problem.
I figured taking advantage of the fair being in town and an early (saturday) showing to beat crowds for what looked like was gonna be a good movie since Clint Eastwood directed, well, I left wanting to demand my money back!
The film follows the individual stories of 3 different people living in different countries - a factory worker in San Francisco who has some degree of psychic ability to connect with the dead (Matt Damon), a French television journalist who survives a near-death experience(Cecile de France), and a London boy living with his drug-addicted mother whose twin brother has died in a tragic accident (Frankie McLaren).
It's a character study of human grief in different parts of the world and how all people can relate to the difficulties and sadness surrounding this issue.One of the interesting ideas I thought about while watching this film is how various individuals and groups in the world try to profit economically or politically in some way off of people because of these unknown questions surrounding the idea of death.
As death and the dead strike them, Morgan writes with an emphasis on ambiguity as to whether their beliefs in the afterlife are a truth of the film's reality, or a combination of illnesses, dreams, hopes and hallucinations.Thus, it's a credit to the actors, mostly graceful cinematography and Eastwood's (whose own score goes a long way) choices that the moody tone casts such a spell and the characters elicit real empathy in their plights (though some of the supporting performances, notably and somewhat understandably given Eastwood's one-take directing style, the young twins, are stiff and don't hold up to the captivating Damon and De France).
Nice, if contrived, details by Morgan do offer some light diversions and help to fill out the film, e.g., the psychic's obsession with Dickens, a wink to a writer who often explored death, redemption and fate.And yet, over and over, just at the moment where viewers would expect to be floored, most necessarily when the characters at last converge in a cathartic ending, a not-quite-believable special effect is implemented, the dialogue doesn't come through, or the acting falters, and the audience is instead left, at best, touched, or at worst, ponderous.Which might partially be the point.
Eastwood deserves high points for his sensitive approach towards this tender, yet tragic human-drama.'Hereafter' Synopsis: A drama centered on three people -- a blue-collar American, a French journalist and a London school boy -- who are touched by death in different ways.'Hereafter' is emotionally rich & so are its primary characters.
I don't want to tell you more about it, just watch it respectfully, knowing that it is a creation from a very great mind, a well-known film director winner of several awards and that it's a movie about people looking for answers about afterlife experiences, the same as many of us..
Hereafter focuses on three people: a French newscaster who is caught in a tsunami and has a near death experience; a young boy whose twin brother dies; and a psychic who believes his ability is a curse, not a gift, and therefore resists it.Now, I believe we have lost the art of the story buildup -- nowadays a story has to get to the point in the first five minutes of the movie.
Matt Damon hands in his usual internalized performance, and it works well here; and Frankie/George MacLaren are wonderful and heartbreaking as the twins.This film could have been much more powerful; I thought it lost its way as it was getting to the point of the movie..
However, with Clint Eastwood on board as director and a very impressive, even scary opening scene you could be forgiven for thinking that this was a big Hollywood blockbuster, which is misleading and probably inspires many of the complaints made about the movie.Although the theme of death runs throughout Hereafter it is actually a film about life and how to live it.
After Jason dies tragically in a car accident, Marcus is thrown into a downward spiral of depression.The lives of these three people are brought together as the all encounter each other at the London Book Fair.(Peter) Morgan's (The Queen, Frost/Nixon, The Damned United)script, and director Clint Eastwood's directorial vision make this movie as good as it is.
Up to today I cannot shed my anger with the teachings of my childhood which tried to make me believe that there is a God who observes each of my moves, robbing me of all privacy and that angels are watching over me and protecting me.The first belief ruined much of my youth until I was able to ignore it and the second teaching left me deeply disappointed that there was never an angel, who showed up to save me from my own mistakes.So any person who is able to connect with dead people and any movie suggesting intervention from an "angel" is highly suspicious to me and though I thought that this movie dealt more with loss than with the supernatural, that one character (played by Matt Damon) spoiled it a little bit for me.
Probably the most under-appreciated movie of the year, Clint Eastwood's "Hereafter" is a very thoughtful film that demands our personal reflection.
There is a soft emotional undertone throughout the movie as we see the slow development of the plot, in Eastwood-like fashion.The movie inches along at a deliberate and meditative-like pace as we see the incremental development of the 3 main characters: George Lonegan (Matt Damon), cursed with the ability to communicate with the dead, a boy in England who encounters death in his own family, and a French woman who dies and comes back to life, with occasional glimpses into her death experience, which is an all-knowing all-sensing state.The highlights lie in the depth of the characters and not the special effects of the movie, although the visions/connections we see and the tsunami are certainly well done.
During a good portion of the movie I sat in contemplative silence not really caring what happened to the characters, as the slowly-building plot line seemed to almost lead to nowhere, almost wondering "is this it?" I was not overly impressed with the London boy's acting, or the French gal's for that matter - a few of the supporting characters seemed much more believable, take for instance Damon's love interest in his cooking class.Overall the tone of the film was somber and contemplative, thoughtful, and seemed to offer hope that we aren't alone and things always have a way of working out in the end.
What Dreams May Come or Flatliners, this film definitely isn't.The movie had a few nice moments (such as the visit of the different "psychics"), but overall it felt disjointed, and the 3-way structure made the stories less developed and compelling.
I had the greatest expectations with "Hereafter" for many reasons: first, of course, a Clint Eastwood film; second, with Cécile De France and Matt Damon; about an interesting theme; and last but not the least, the trailer with the tsunami scenes is impressive.
for a movie meant to feel real.Now, regarding George, the film makes us believe in an afterlife or at least an existing frontier between life and death, which is well rendered in the opening sequences (although one can interpret them as hallucinatory visions).
Hereafter is a film that I would have never thought would be directed by Eastwood, not because he's not interested in great stories, but because of the nature of the story itself.Hereafter is a three-way approach to death and focuses on how three different characters experience it.
Leave it to Clint Eastwood and Matt Damon to take a pretty weak premise and deliver the goods.There's not a lot done in this movie that we haven't seen before in countless other films.
When it comes to movies about death, I personally prefer films like Meet Joe Black, but I still don't think Hereafter was as bad as many people considered it to be.
Not that the other actors aren't good- Eastwood has always had a knack of coaxing the best out of his actors, and the tender performances of de France and the McLaren twins attest thoroughly to that.As expected of a film with the subject of death and the afterlife, "Hereafter" is likely to divide audiences, as it has done for critics.
The third act also felt very rushed as forced, trying to find a way to get all the characters together and the ending came out of nowhere.A strength of Eastwood's direction was the film was grounded and underplayed, making Hereafter seem like it does take in the real world.