“Tomorrow people will ask you why I died.”
https://youtu.be/zD6ttGcDo-4
As a huge fan of mind breaking Korean movies, I have to admit that when I sat down to watch “After My Death”, I was hoping to get something that would have me on the edge of my seat. However, what I got was a slow paced movie, which was quite disappointing.
There were a lot of good things that still made me sit through the two-hour runtime. Before reviewing the movie, let us first look at its plot.
The story follows Young-Hee (Jeon Yeo-Bin), a high school student who following the death of Kyoung-Min (Jeon So-Nee) (one of her classmates) is bullied and broken because she is thought to be responsible for it. We also get to witness the victim’s mother (Seo Young-Hwa) struggling with her daughter’s disappearance and also believing that Young-Hee is responsible.
The lead actress Jeon Yeo-Bin did an amazing job in her portrayal of Young-Hee. She made me believe in her character and made Young-Hee come alive. Not every actress could have played this character with such perfection, and I felt as if I was witnessing her story. I was also captivated by the amazing cinematography. It made me feel immersed in the scene, alongside the wonderfully dark sceneries going on from the beginning to the end. One of my favorite things to see in a movie is the cinematography – it is more important than what a majority of people may think. Without a good angle, a great scene could lose all of its brilliance.
Now if you are sensitive to dark subjects, I would suggest that you avoid this movie because it reflects a lot of the dark world that many high school students (Female and Male) have to face. I would even say that it goes beyond high school – it touches a lot of social messages (homosexuality, disabilities, etc.) that are omnipresent in most of today’s societies but are still perceived as unacceptable by many people. This movie somewhat tried to get these messages across and successfully displayed them, but failed to condemn those who do not accept them and continue to spread hate.
Director Ui-Seok Kim may have missed the “outstanding movies train” but nonetheless, he created a watchable movie. It is confusing (some scenes are difficult to understand) but it still is a well-made film. In my opinion, there were some interesting elements that the director could have expanded upon, which would have made the story more impactful. This lack of impact is what ultimately affects the movie as a whole.
“After My Death” is watchable for viewers of a certain age, but it is not a movie that I would recommend. If someone asked me straightforward if they should watch it, my answer would be “go ahead” – but if they were to ask me which movie they should watch, this one would not be in my top recommendations.
