Hereafter (2019)

Directed by: Willem Bosch | 90 minutes | drama, family | Actors: Sanaa Giwa, Gijs Scholten van Aschat, Romana Vrede, Ben Abelsma, Jan-Paul Buijs, Marguerite de Brauw, Anis de Jong, Glenn Durfort, Ria Eimers, Jan Willem Hofma, Helen Kamperveen, Gonca Karasu, Sjoerd Meijer, Robert Nederlof Ellen Parren, Ali Sultan, Jurjen van Loon, Ilse Warringa

For the 2019 Telefilms class, a specific choice has been made for youth films. The second in line is ‘Hereafter’, the directorial debut of Willem Bosch, who has worked as a screenwriter on the TV series ‘Van God Los’ and ‘Penoza’. He also wrote the screenplay for ‘Hereafter’. Contrary to what the title suggests, however, not much time is spent in the afterlife, but the film mainly examines the question of what it would be like to live your life over with the knowledge of the past. The one to put to the test is sixteen-year-old Sam (a disarming Sanaa Giwa), who lost her mother Vera (Romana Vrede) to a freak accident shortly before her own untimely death.

In an extended prologue we are presented with the apparently happy childhood of Sam, until the moment when her mother falls from a ladder while removing the Christmas decorations and breaks her neck. Sam, who has always loved to draw, has lost her inspiration and never touches her pencils again. Father Erik (Gijs Scholten van Aschat) is so at odds with himself that he leaves the upbringing of his twin sons to big sister Sam, who also immediately takes care of the rest of the household. When her father completely forgets Sam’s sixteenth birthday, she races into the distance on her bicycle and is promptly hit by a truck.

Intense material, but ‘Hereafter’ brings everything with a frivolity that is most reminiscent of ‘Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain’ (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001). Due to the comparably lively narration and the music of Arno Krabman, which here and there seems to refer deliberately to Yann Tiersens’s well-known soundtrack, you cannot ignore the association. When Sam gets to heaven, a comparison with the series ‘The Good Place’ is also lurking. Angels are civil servants and Martin (Jan-Paul Buijs), the angel specifically in charge of Sam’s check-in, welcomes her in a similar way as Michael does with Eleanor.

But if it is on purpose, then it counts as an ode and certainly not as a sign that Bosch would not have a voice of his own. Because the way in which he brings serious life questions in a child-friendly way cannot be faked. This is a confident director, who tells a story close to his heart (Bosch himself lost his mother to a car accident in 2010). Sam can choose a new life in heaven or face infinity in the presence of her mother. She chooses the latter, but when it turns out after a while that there is a shortcut from the afterlife to redo her own life and thus possibly save her mother, she does not hesitate for a moment.

She is born again as Sam, but loses her afterlife knowledge before she can speak properly. She cannot explain her fascination with ladders herself, any more than the gigantic mural full of skyscrapers from the afterlife, which she makes on a whim in her bedroom. The question therefore remains for a long time whether Sam can really do something to prevent her mother’s fateful accident. The film answers this question in a way that you might not expect from a youth film. But ‘Hereafter’ is the kind of youth film that takes children completely seriously and, just like in ‘Kauwboy’ (Boudewijn Koole, 2012), for example, makes the death of a parent completely open to discussion.

‘Hereafter’ is beautifully portrayed and contains a good dose of humor, so that the film remains manageable despite the heavy theme. The afterlife itself is presented in an intriguing way and is just short enough to hold an acceptable internal logic. A wise choice. Because the concept certainly invites you to think about it longer, but only after you have been moved by the rest of the story. And because of the combined acting talent of Romana Vrede, Gijs Scholten van Aschat and Sanaa Giwa, it cannot be otherwise.