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The After follows Dayo (David Oyelowo), an executive-turned-Uber-driver. The above quote is part of an unrelated conversation he overhears between two of his passengers, but it's a trigger for him. You see, Dayo is still trying to cope with life "after" tragedy has struck his family.
When you're grieving, anything can be a trigger. A song, a place, someone's face, a word. Dayo knows it too well as he has to listen to a father celebrating his son's achievements in a soccer game, two friends trying to handle a family emergency over the phone, or a bickering couple with a daughter that looks a lot like Dayo's.
Is it manipulative? Maybe, but then again, what film isn't? The strength of the short is in Oyelowo's committed performance and how he transmits that struggle from a grieving father and husband, and how that grief can sometimes knock you down. Do we stay down and miss the life we never gonna have, or do we stand up and keep on fighting for the one we do have?
Grade:
THE AFTER
(2023, Harriman)
(2023, Harriman)
"I just miss the life... that he's never gonna have."
The After follows Dayo (David Oyelowo), an executive-turned-Uber-driver. The above quote is part of an unrelated conversation he overhears between two of his passengers, but it's a trigger for him. You see, Dayo is still trying to cope with life "after" tragedy has struck his family.
When you're grieving, anything can be a trigger. A song, a place, someone's face, a word. Dayo knows it too well as he has to listen to a father celebrating his son's achievements in a soccer game, two friends trying to handle a family emergency over the phone, or a bickering couple with a daughter that looks a lot like Dayo's.
Is it manipulative? Maybe, but then again, what film isn't? The strength of the short is in Oyelowo's committed performance and how he transmits that struggle from a grieving father and husband, and how that grief can sometimes knock you down. Do we stay down and miss the life we never gonna have, or do we stand up and keep on fighting for the one we do have?
Grade: