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Afterlife of the Party
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Wikipedia article
'Afterlife of the Party' is a 2021 American supernatural comedy film directed by Stephen Herek and written by Carrie Freedle. The film stars Victoria Justice as Cassie and Midori Francis as Lisa, two friends who experience challenges in their relationship upon reaching adulthood. The film also stars Timothy Renouf, Adam Garcia, Gloria Garcia and Spencer Sutherland.
'Afterlife of the Party' was released on September 2, 2021, by Netflix; by September 7, it was the most viewed film on the platform. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Justice's and Francis's performances and its humor.
Plot
Cassie and Lisa have been best friends since first grade. Now as adults, their interests and social lives have changed. Cassie is a fun-loving party animal, while Lisa lives a secluded life away from most social interaction. One day, Cassie convinces Lisa to go out to a party and before leaving they meet Max, who lives a very similar life to Lisa, moving in next door. Max and Lisa seem to take a liking to one another.
Cassie and Lisa head to a club and get into an argument soon after when some of Cassie's acquaintances want to head to other parties and Lisa chooses to leave. During the argument, Lisa points out that their friendship has changed and that Cassie is always trying to pretend to be someone else and they realize that they no longer have anything in common. They part ways and later that evening Cassie heads home and passes out in her room.
When Cassie wakes up, she goes to the bathroom hungover, trips and hits her head on the toilet resulting in her death. She awakens in a room and meets Val, an angel handler who explains that Cassie has been dead for over a year and before reaching the "Afterlife party in Heaven" has a list of people she needs to help as a guardian angel. The list includes her best friend Lisa, her father and her mother Sofia. However, Cassie has to try to figure out the best way to help each of them before time runs out.
Cast
* Victoria Justice as Cassie
* Midori Francis as Lisa
* Robyn Scott as Val
* Timothy Renouf as Max
* Adam Garcia as Howie
* Gloria Garcia as Sofia
* Myfanwy Waring as Emme
* Spencer Sutherland as Koop
Production
In October 2020, it was announced that Victoria Justice and Midori Francis would star in 'Afterlife of the Party', a film directed by Stephen Herek for Netflix. Principal photography began on October 21, 2020, and concluded on December 6, 2020, in Cape Town, South Africa.
Music
The same day the film premiered, the soundtrack EP was released by Spencer Sutherland and Victoria Justice, who both starred in the film, and its composer, Jessica Rose Weiss.
Release
The film was released on September 2, 2021 by Netflix. As of September 7, it was the most popular movie on the platform according to its ranking system.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 56% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 5.0/10.
Christy Lemire, writing for 'RogerEbert.com', gave the film a score of 1.5/4 stars, saying that the film "strives for both wild, physical humor and heart-tugging poignancy [but] achieves neither, occupying an uncomfortable middle ground of its own", and added: "Francis authenticity and soulfulness make you wish she were at the center of the film instead of on the sidelines." She concluded: "Justice may have a striking screen presence, but she can only do much with material thats less than heavenly."
Jennifer Green of Common Sense Media gave the film a score of 3/5 stars, writing: "Part of the problem is that the central idea of 'Afterlife of the Party' is quite sad ... yet the film does everything it can in its first half to play this as straight comedy"; however, she praised the film's second half, saying: "the script delves into what Cassie is leaving behind and allows its characters to actually feel something, but the disconnect in tone is noticeable."
Tatat Bunnag of the 'Bangkok Post' described the film as "a formulaic fantasy rom-com that does what's been done before, but packs it in a format for millennials and Gen Z", and added: "Despite being very predictable, the drama and a fair share of heartwarming elements were handled pretty well."
References
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