After – Toronto After Dark 2012
Two strangers named Freddy and Ana meet each other as they travel alone on bus heading back to their home town of Pearl. Even though they are apparently strangers, by coincidence they find out that they happen to live close by to each other on the same street. After some mild flirting between the two, the bus is heard skidding and crashing. Ana and Frank wake up sometime later back in the town, however something is different. The two of them seem to be the only people occupying the town and there is black cloud slowly coming towards them. Not only that, but there is a creature within the cloud that begins stalking them. Despite having many horror and fantasy elements, the film is very much a character study as Freddy and Ana try to find a solution to their predicament. Throughout the course of the film, they find familiar locations within the town and flashback to when they were kids. It is during these moments that they realize that they may have more in common with each other than they previously realized. The film features an interesting use of colour palettes with the town having a dark blue tone to it, with the flashbacks having a bright yellow tone. Even though the true nature of the deserted town and incoming cloud is a bit a spoiler, it was something that I was easily able to piece together one my own, with the very title of the film being a big hint. Since there’s only two characters in the film (with the exception of the flashbacks), the film is actually a bit monotonous as a result. While the creature does add some thrilling elements to the film, it only seems to be around to add conflict to the plot. Overall, I would say that After was an interesting film to say the least. Even though it has a somewhat monotonous, dialogue-driven plot, it still managed to keep my attention and I thought it was a fair enough film.7 | FAIR
