The After (2023)
The After Review
The After is a 2023 short film directed by Misan Harriman and starring David Oyelowo. It’s a flawed, but effective film.
After losing a family member to a violent crime, a shattered ride-share driver picks up a passenger who forces him to confront his grief. This movie features a powerful performance from David Oyelowo as he proved once again his greatness as an actor. The movie is quite emotional, culminating with that somewhat implausible, but still heartbreaking final scene.
The violent crime itself was difficult to believe as it came out of nowhere and the film is definitely one of those shorts that rely too heavily on one extreme scenario to carry the plot forward, but the taxi scenes were fantastic as they offered a snapshot of many different peoples’ lives while reminding our protagonist of everything that he lost, further intensifying his anguish. Those moments were so well acted, shot and edited in sound and score that I wished the rest of the flick was as strong.
