Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Phillida Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

TopBobUK Certainly not as bad as other reviews have made out. I knew nothing about the film in advance but had an expectation of a humorous horror. That's what I got. I didn't expect an Oscar winner, or something taxing with multiple subplots, or some subtext relating to Bolshevik Russia - and I wasn't disappointed in this. In terms of horror, comedy, crime thriller, love story, family relationships and everything else thrown into the film I found most aspects were topped by other films. None of these bits rose above the others and none stood out as particularly good. It was therefore a bit mellow and so a pretty simple watch. Some pop stars these days are raved about but I really wouldn't have them as anything other than background music at a dinner party. This warranted a bit more attention than a background film whilst I potter about the house, although I was occasionally tempted to grab a cup of tea and check my phone for emails/messages without pausing it. I am sure was not the wish of the director/producer. However, there was enough to hold me for the whole film. I thought the presentation and acting was as expected with the whole thing being slightly above average - hence the 6/10.

DICK STEEL While I understand the Indian masala films usually involve having everything including the kitchen sink thrown into the plot, which will have enough room for the story to combine romance, mystery, drama, comedy, song and dance all together for possibly something for everyone to enjoy, It's a Wonderful Afterlife somehow had all these ingredients coming together, but felt a little too contrived at mixing everything up and gelling them all nicely, especially since it had a trailer that's not quite accurate, and it seemed more like a typical 3 hour film rather than its 100 minute duration.Gurinder Chadha's more famous for her directorial breakthrough Bend It Like Beckham, which arguably introduced Kieira Knightley to the world, and here she combines an ensemble with the likes of Jimi Mistry, Sally Hawkins and the Indian actors Sanjeev Bhaskar, Shaheen Khan, Adlyn Ross and Ash Varrez in a film that started like an investigative drama with a potential serial killer on the loose in the Southall district of London, the policeman D S Murthy (Sendhil Ramamurthy) who had been transferred in for investigative work in his own community to sniff out details of the suspects, Roopi (Goldy Notay) and her mother Mrs Sethi (Shabana Azmi) who is desperate for the former to get married with much of her rejection based on her plumpish looks, Roopi's best friend Linda (Hawkins) who finds her inner Indian self and is somewhat of a self-taught spiritual guru, and the list goes on.At best, the plot and its subplots were extremely scattered, and somehow it seemed that Chadha didn't manage to find common ground for all of them to coexist, with each plot line threatening to upstage and distract one from others. Prime to everything hinged on Mrs Sethi's rather protective quest to look for a potential husband for her daughter Roopi, and how the former's dealing with rejection led to an eventual five spirits tagging along with her, who through her guilty conscious is the only one able to see them all. The cat is let out of the bag early, and it's somehow not so much of a mystery other than a zany comedy to have these friendly ghouls make jokes at every opportunity.The romantic leads of Sendhil Ramamurthy and Goldy Notay also lacked believable chemistry though the rushed romance didn't help their cause since the detective also had to juggle an ulterior motive, while that between Jimy Mistry and Sally Hawkins went down the road to explore how some people groove to the beat of other cultures since they're not at home with their own. Sally Hawkins though had a single major scene which mimicked a horror film where a woman scorned unleashes hell on earth during her own party, probably a comedic highlight of the film that defied all logic and pushed the film toward absurdity.I had enjoyed Gurinder Chadha's works such as Bride and Prejudice, and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, but somehow this entry into her filmography seemed like a step back. Let's how she finds her groove back pretty soon with a stronger and more coherent story rather than leaving things scattered around.

frictionangel One of the funniest movies in a while! The director gets the whole Indians abroad thing to absolute perfection. One felt like one had met everyone on screen before! All the actors except Shabhana Azmi were really good. OK...the actor who plays her daughter wasn't brilliant either but at least she wasn't full of herself. The plot itself was rather cute and the editing is very well done. Only issue with it is that the target audience is rather limited. You need to either be an Indian living abroad or know enough Indians living abroad to get most of the jokes. The whole thing is not to be taken seriously for even a moment of course! This one gives Bend it like Beckham a serious run for its money.

floorpopcornblog I was really excited about going to see It's A Wonderful Afterlife because Gurinder Chadha is the director and she has directed two of my favourite films - Angues, Thongs and Perfect Snogging and also Bride and Prejudice. I had also seen plenty of the film on TV and it looked like a fun film - I was right! The film is set in London but is all about Indians. It's a really weird storyline but that's what made it so funny and unique. Basically, an old woman called Mrs Sethi (Shabana Azmi) wants to commit suicide because she is a widow but she won't do it until her daughter Roopi (Goldy Notay) is married. Anyone who gets in her way gets killed in lots of funny and gruesome ways. Right at the start of the film, she stuffs a man so much by feeding him curry that he explodes and therefore prompting curry to fly about everywhere. I told you it was weird! The murder brings the police in to things and the officer assigned to the case is called Murthy (Sendhil Ramamurthy). He happens to be a close friend of Mrs Sethi and her daughter. Also involved is Linda, renamed Galani (Sally Hawkins), who wears Indian clothes, has an Indian fiancée (Jimi Mistry) and insists that she is psychic.It is a set-up for lots of funny things to happen. There are quite a lot of fat jokes which get old after a while and also a lot of slapstick that sometimes is really hilarious and sometimes isn't. There are also lots of people slipping over on curry which is so silly it's really quite funny. The ending is especially hilarious but I won't spoil it for you! The script overall is really funny and original. There is a happy ending with a wedding as in a lot of Gurinder Chadha's films but the way it gets to the end is really original. All of the cast are really good as well and deliver their lines perfectly, especially Shabana Azmi who is really super. The film also looks really good but the cheap gore and exploding curry looks a bit out of place.In many ways this is a typical romance film with some really funny moments. However, there are plenty of unique ideas in here and some great humorous moments that will make it worth seeing, especially if you like the director's other films.4/5