Life After Beth, 2014.
Written and Directed by Jeff Baena.
Starring Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Matthew Gray Gubler and Molly Shannon.
SYNOPSIS:
A young man’s girlfriend returns from the dead, only she’s not exactly like she used to be.
What would you do if your dead partner suddenly came back to life? This is the question posed by writer and director Jeff Baena with Life After Beth. After suffering a snake bite on a hike, Beth (Plaza) dies and we see her heartbroken boyfriend Zach (DeHaan) go through the various stages of grief. The film opens with her funeral, the packing up of her possessions and a heartfelt conversation between Zach and Beth’s parents. Then we get our twist when Beth shows up alive, seemingly resurrected with no recollection of her death.
Life After Beth has breathed new life in to a genre that hadn’t had much success since Shaun of the Dead. It’s so successful because of the twist on the idea. Upon seeing Beth, Zach doesn’t reach for the nearest cricket bat to bash her over the head, instead he becomes a lovesick teenager again; revelling in the amazement that Beth is alive and he can finally say everything he hadn’t before. This leads to some wonderfully tender moments that show Baena’s good eye as a director.
Of course like all good zombie movies, Life After Beth has its fair share of comedy, yet it never feels like it’s trying too hard. Beth’s parents are played superbly by Molly Shannon and John C. Reilly, yet you never feel that they’re delivering their lines with the express view of making you laugh. DeHaan’s performance as Zach is also riddled with inadvertent humour from the various situations he finds himself in. DeHaan brings a deep sense of humanity to Zach that makes Life After Beth a sweet romance as well as a good zombie film.
Then of course we come to Aubrey Plaza who plays Beth. What starts as her returning as the same old Beth, who quickly deteriorates into one of the funniest zombies I’ve seen in a long time. Still with the ability to communicate and a penchant for smooth jazz, she’s hilarious in every scene. As with the rest of the film, it doesn’t feel like Beth’s actions are too deliberately make the audience laugh. The final scene between Beth and Zach is heartfelt and romantic, yet at the same time Beth is decomposing at a rapid rate and is strapped to the front of an oven. It’s these little touches that make Life After Beth hugely entertaining.
A terrific soundtrack (if you ignore the smooth jazz), tons of gore and great supporting performances – especially from Zach’s brother Kyle (Matthew Gray Gubler) – makes Life After Beth an entertaining new addition to a genre that was starting to become a little tired.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Helen Murdoch is a freelance writer – Follow me on Twitter
Originally published October 8, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
