The Sweet Hereafter . Memphis Flyer . 03-23-98

The Sweet Hereafter

DIRECTED BY: Atom Egoyan

REVIEWED: 03-23-98

Atom Egoyan is not a feel-good-movie sort of director. He is, however, a director who knows how to build a mood. More precisely, he specializes in a bleakness and hopelessness that makes its way under a viewer’s skin. Sometimes, his attempts misfire, as in his last film, the schoolgirl-stripper piece Exotica, which was just creepy. In his latest film, The Sweet Hereafter, Egoyan is more effective. The feelings he draws up aren’t from the disgust of voyeurism, but rather from a deep pity.

Ian Holm in Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter.

Ian Holm stars as Mitchell Stephens, a personal-injury lawyer, who has made his way into a small town wrecked with sorrow after a schoolbus accident claimed the lives of many of the town’s children. He is there to enlist clients for a lawsuit, to find blame for an event that has no reason. Stephens’ approach is to offer the parents an outlet for their anger. He gets down on all fours, if that’s what it takes. Stephens, whose daughter is killing herself with drugs, is suffering too. But it’s hard to trust that he is connecting with the parents through this when he happily notes that one of the dead children was an adopted Indian (“Judges like adopted Indian boys”).

The Sweet Hereafter is something of an emotional investment, and the last half hour particularly seems to drag. But it’s worth toughing it out. Egoyan gives out the story in increments, switching between before and after the accident. He shows the victims and their families just (film) moments away from the tragedy, offering up comparisons of their lives. Some remain, shaken but oddly the same. Others still find a dignity, a new voice to straighten their paths.

--Susan Ellis

Full Length Reviews
The Sweet Hereafter
The Sweet Hereafter
The Sweet Hereafter
The Sweet Hereafter
The Sweet Hereafter

Capsule Reviews
The Sweet Hereafter
The Sweet Hereafter
The Sweet Hereafter

Other Films by Atom Egoyan
Exotica
Felicia's Journey

Film Vault Suggested Links
The Green Mile
Eve's Bayou
A Thousand Acres

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