A man finds himself in extraordinary circumstances after receiving a bill for his own funeral.
A mix of surrealism and science fiction brings a Twilight Zone-ish film to the short screen. After Thought has the allures of a segment from a potential feature full length film, something that the creators Val and Reza are currently working on.
The bizarre story has Brandon Ames receiving a bill for his own funeral and visits the funeral home to correct what is sure to be an error. However, as far as the funeral home office manager is concerned, Brandon Ames is dead and buried and the bill is just sent to the wrong address. Suddenly, Brandon realizes that no one can recognize him anymore except for the funeral home coordinator who tells him he is experiencing a “new reality.” Not believing any of this, Brandon drives off to the cemetery to dig up answers, unaware that he is participating in an experiment carried out in the basement of the funeral home.
A rich, dying man has financed building a machine that, if functioning properly, will perfectly preserve his body long after death. We learn that Brandon Ames’ dead body is the test subject, but there is a side effect: Brandon has come to life in an unrecognizable form. He is an after thought in a fringe science experiment that is meant for personal gain and not progress or bettering the world.
Although there are enough clues in the short that a viewer can piece together what is actually happening, the main goal was to give the audience a visceral experience. Instead of explaining things through heavy exposition, we focused on creating atmosphere along with building a mystery. The ambiguity and style add to the dream-like quality of the short film.
The film stars excellent performances by lead actors David Dastmalchian who played in The Dark Knight and Prisoners, and Sam Buchanan who played in This is Martin Bonner.
