Watch It's a Wonderful Afterlife
- PG-13
- 2010
- 1 hr 40 min
-
5.4 (1,681)
It's a Wonderful Afterlife is a British-Indian comedy film directed by Gurinder Chadha and released in 2010. The movie follows the life of Mrs. Sethi, a widowed Punjabi mother who's desperate to get her daughter married off. When her efforts to find her daughter a suitable husband fail, Mrs. Sethi resorts to more extreme measures. She decides to kill off the potential suitors who rejected her daughter in order to prevent them from finding love with anyone else.
As the bodies pile up, a ghost investigator and a police detective begin to investigate the strange murders that have been occurring in the community. Meanwhile, Mrs. Sethi's daughter Roopi becomes increasingly upset by her mother's actions and starts to distance herself from her.
The film takes an interesting twist when Mrs. Sethi develops a strange power as a result of her daughter's rejection. She begins to see the ghosts of her victims, who all want the same thing â to find love. Mrs. Sethi is suddenly thrust into the role of matchmaker between the ghosts and the living, which helps her to realize the true meaning of love and selflessness.
It's a Wonderful Afterlife cleverly mixes elements of comedy, horror, and romance to create a unique and entertaining movie experience. The script, written by Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges, is full of witty dialogue and comic situations that keep the film moving at a fast pace. The film also deals with some important themes, such as the pressures of the Punjabi community to get married and the dangers of placing too much importance on external appearances.
The characters in the film are well-developed and each brings something unique to the story. Sanjeev Bhaskar gives a strong performance as the ghost investigator, who is skeptical of Mrs. Sethi's claims at first but eventually comes to believe in the power of love. Steve Morphew and Steve Jones are both excellent as the police detectives who try to solve the murders.
The real standout performance, though, comes from Shabana Azmi as Mrs. Sethi. Azmi perfectly captures the struggle and desperation of a mother who wants the best for her daughter but doesn't know how to go about it. She's able to convey a wide range of emotions, from anger to sadness to joy, and keeps the audience rooting for her even as she does some pretty terrible things.
The film also benefits from its colorful and lively setting of Southall, London, which is known for its large Indian community. The Punjabi culture is brought to life through the music, dance, and food, and the film does a good job of showing both the positives and negatives of living in a tight-knit community.
Overall, It's a Wonderful Afterlife is a fun and unique movie that's well worth watching. It combines humor, horror, and romance in a way that's rarely seen in movies, and it has a lot of heart thanks to its excellent performances and strong script. Whether you're a fan of comedy or horror â or both â this film is sure to entertain.
It's a Wonderful Afterlife is a 2010 comedy with a runtime of 1 hour and 40 minutes. It has received mostly poor reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 5.4 and a MetaScore of 40.