Grimmfest 2014 Review – Life After Beth (2014)

Life After Beth, 2014.

Directed by Jeff Baena.
Starring Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Matthew Gray Gubler and Molly Shannon.

SYNOPSIS:

A young man’s recently deceased girlfriend mysteriously returns from the dead, but he slowly realizes she is not the way he remembered her.

It could almost certainly be argued that zombie films are far past their resurgence. Beginning with 28 Days Later in 2002 and exploding thanks to 2004’s Dawn of The Dead remake the current wave of zombie appreciation has taken root in all popular forms of media; comics, videogames, books and movies. The upside of complete saturation is that it’s not long before somebody takes that well-worn concept and shapes into something that is at least original. Warm Bodies was one such example, and if there’s a big-budget mainstream film twisting an established convention then you can be sure there are dozens of independent films that got there earlier. Life After Beth is a new ‘zom-com’ from writer-director Jeff Baena, and one which does well to veer off the beaten path and take zombies squarely into the realm of ‘artistic interpretation’.

While out hiking alone Beth (Aubrey Plaza) is bitten by a snake and dies, leaving behind her grieving parents (John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon) and boyfriend Zach (Dane DeHaan). Following her funeral Zach befriends Beth’s father and during one visit sees Beth walking through the house alive and well. Initially overjoyed at her return it’s not long before Beth starts behaving erratically, prompting Zach to reevaluate his relationship with his now slowly decaying girlfriend. Jokes comes rapidly as Beth’s family and Zack all go to great lengths to accommodate for her mood swings, somnambulance and lack of memory regarding her untimely end. Unfortunately the film’s structure does feel somewhat off, with Anna Kendrick’s role as Zack’s potential new love interest in particular standing out as something of an afterthought given that she’s introduced roughly halfway through the film. The pacing between the two halves is also heavily skewed in favour of the second, not so much steadily increasing but rather suddenly exploding and never looking back.

Also somewhat initially jarring is DeHaan’s casting as a neurotic, high-energy goofball given his record of playing intense and broken individuals. In part this explains why some of the jokes don’t quite land, specifically in Zach’s interactions with his brother Kyle (Matthew Gray Gubler). John C. Reilly lends a bumbling sweetness to Beth’s father and manages to make all his actions -absurd or otherwise- feel like an extension of his grief, but it’s Aubrey Plaza’s show as Beth Slocum. Perhaps due in part to her character of April in Parks and Recreation it’s pretty great to see Aubrey Plaza let loose and shine in both physical and verbal comedy. For her performance alone the film earns an additional star, with Beth and Zack’s climactic hike being the film’s highlight. When Beth’s not on screen her absence is felt but this isn’t often an issue given the film’s abbreviated running time and solid direction from Baena. There’s also good use of music throughout both in choices and as a plot device to calm Beth down during her tantrums. Life After Beth essentially has the raw materials necessary to create a cult film in the vein of Zombieland or Re-Animator, and while the whole may prove somewhat less than the sum of its parts Life After Beth is unique, funny and a touching take on a genre that had been beaten to death.