After Death (2023)    Angel Studios/Documentary    RT: 103 minutes    Rated PG-13 (thematic material including violent descriptions, some bloody images, drug references)    Director: Stephen Gray and Chris Radtke    Screenplay: Stephen Gray and Chris Radtke    Music: Hannah Parrott    Cinematography: Austin Straub    Release date: October 27, 2023 (US)    Cast: (Re-enactment Actors) Koko Marshall, Michael Jovanovski, Kate Duffy, Doug Lito, Drew Neal Horton, Nicholas Saenz, Fabian Jaime, Chetavious Davis, Ryan Mcarthy, Nick McCloud.    Interviewees: John Burke, Dr. Mary Neal, Dr. Michael Sabom, Dr. Jeffrey Long, Dr. Raymond Moody, Dale Black, Don Piper, Howard Storm, Paul Ojeda, Swen Spjut, Dr. Ajmal Zemmar, Dean Braxton, Dr. Karl Greene, Steve Kang, Anita Onarecker Wood, Eva Piper.

Rating: *

 Does anybody else remember Beyond and Back, the 1978 “death-sploitation” documentary from Sunn Classic Pictures? That’s the same independent film company behind such titles as In Search of Noah’s Ark, The Bermuda Triangle and In Search of Historic Jesus. They also made non-docs like The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, Hangar 18 and Earthbound. Their docs were sensationalistic but entertaining. At least I thought so. ANYWAY, Beyond and Back fascinated me as a child. It dealt with near-death experiences and featured interviews with people who had been…. well, beyond and back. I can’t attest to the veracity of their stories, but it got me to thinking about what happens when it’s all over. Is there life after death? They say there is, but most of us will never know for sure until our number’s up.

 B&B immediately sprang to mind when I heard about After Death, a new documentary from Angel Studios. That’s the faith-based film company that made a huge splash this past summer with the child-trafficking drama Sound of Freedom. They’re also behind His Only Son and the hit series The Chosen. Written and directed by newcomers Stephen Gray and Chris Radtke, After Death similarly deals with NDEs. It too features interviews with people who claim to have had one. People like author Don Piper (90 Minutes in Heaven) who became an ordained minister after surviving a horrific car crash. This time, it’s not so interesting. In fact, the movie is a crashing bore. I was actually falling asleep on it. I would have given myself over completely to Morpheus if not for my professional obligation to provide a fair and accurate review. That means staying awake for the whole movie which I somehow managed to do, but only barely.

 There’s no need for a plot synopsis since After Death is little more than a murky collection of testimonials and scientific explanations from various talking heads. Many have written books about their experiences. Some have medical backgrounds. They sit there and tell their stories with the same energy as somebody reading tax forms. In addition to the aforementioned car accident, we hear about a plane crash, a painful abdominal rupture, a near-drowning and an attempted suicide. Herein lies one of the film’s biggest problems, its clunky assembly. Instead of having each person tell their tale in turn, we hear part of one story, then another, and then another. It quickly gets frustrating. What they have to say isn’t all that compelling either. There’s a lot of talk about how they drifted out of their bodies to a place of light and love. The interviews are intercut with experts throwing in their two cents about the science behind people coming back to life after being declared clinically dead. You’d think they’d be more excited by such a life-altering experience, but they talk about it like it’s no big deal. It takes away the awe and thrill.

 Okay, so I’ve established how boring After Death is. Let’s move on. As you might expect, it has an agenda. Would you expect anything less from Angel Studios? There’s only one way I can describe it. In the early 90s, I attended a lecture that was supposedly about debunking magic. It was, initially. Then it turned into a sermon sponsored by a religious group. I guess I should have read the fine print on the poster. In any event, I was duped. That pretty much describes the experience of watching After Death. It promises to be about NDEs which it is, but it eventually shifts its attention to the religious side of the subject. It becomes more about how NDEs prove the existence of God and heaven. I shouldn’t be surprised by this turn of events given the studio behind it. And like their other films, the end credits come with a pitch for money by somebody involved in the production (in this case, co-director Gray). He tries to make it sound altruistic, but it actually comes off as shameless. It’s like watching a PBS show during pledge time.

 Here’s the bottom line. Don’t bother with After Death. It’s awful. It’s overly earnest, solemn and self-serious. The interviewees speak too gravely about their experiences. They drone on and on until lowering the boom with the film’s true purpose. It’s like a film adaptation of a religious tract, the kind that litter the floors of bus and subway stations. The score is overbearing and the “beyond” visuals look like an acid trip with Nova-style FX. It numbs rather than dazzles the viewer. I actually regret giving up 103 minutes of my life on this big waste of time. Its only possible value is an extreme cure for insomnia. Angel, you really need to step up your game in the future.