LIFE AFTER BETH
US, 2014, 89 minutes, Colour.
Aubrey Plaza, Dane de Haan, John C.Reilly, Molly Shannon, Cheryl Hines, Paul Reiser, Matthew Gray Gubler, Anna Kendrick.
Directed by Jeff Baena.
Life After Beth begins with a young man distraught over the death of his girlfriend, bitten by a snake during a hike, dead and buried. He is inconsolable but does not receive a great deal of support from his family, his parents, Paul Reiser and Cheryl Hines. He is taunted by his older brother, security guard, Matthew Gray Gubler. However, he does receive a great deal of support from Beth’s parents, John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon. The young man, Zach, is played by Dane de Haan (The Green Goblin in The Amazing Spiderman and James Dean in Life).
But, then Beth reappears, oblivious to what has happened, still with the wound, but assuming that life goes on. Her parents do not want her to go out during the day. Zach the sake is at first unbelieving but then trying to resume his relationship with Beth, which she seems enthusiastic about. John C.Reilly gives an over-frantic performance as her upset father.
Things get a bit more frantic, inexplicably, dead grandfather turns up at home, then other people return from the dead, and there is a whole zombie crisis. Beth gets more and more unreasonable, is jealous when a family friend, a brief performance by Anna Kendrick, turns up talking with Zach.
Zach gets more and more desperate, is dismayed by all the zombies, does not want to kill Beth, despite the urgings of his brother and his giving him a gun. He thinks his parents have been killed, but they have moved to a safe house.
Ultimately, Zach decides to take Beth, who by this time is fully zombielike, for a hike in the mountains, expresses his regrets, as she struggles up the mountain carrying a huge stove on her back. He then shoots her and she rolls down the mountain.
Zach returns to the shelter of his family.
The transition from pining romance to zombie films takes place rather quickly, and the spread of the zombie situation is not well explained. There is some parody in the romantic part of the story as well, of course, in the presentation of the zombies. Perhaps most will judge the film not as funny as is was intended and not as frightening with the zombies as it might have been.
