After the Dark

Phase 4 Films | Release Date: February 7, 2014

5.5	USER SCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 39 Ratings

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pooptoiseJun 25, 2014

I have just watched "after the dark", an intriguing title which bears little or no relevance to the dross which I have just sat through. The story is annoying, pretentious and very far from being philosophic, it has less depth than Disney andI have just watched "after the dark", an intriguing title which bears little or no relevance to the dross which I have just sat through. The story is annoying, pretentious and very far from being philosophic, it has less depth than Disney and if you are thinking that this could be the next "dead poets society" then think again. The effects could have been done in microsoft paint and the acting leaves you totally unable to suspend your disbelief and instead of craving the pathetic and predictable "twist" at the end I found myself wishing it would end. Without wanting to spoil the plot I highly recommend that you dont bother watching this movie and if for some reason you want to find out for yourself then one word of advice, If you think its cr*p after the first time they do the imaginary exercise dont hang in there for the next two times they do it. It only gets worse. This movie is the disappointing equivalent of going to the toilet for a satisfactory poo and only letting out a wispy fart.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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commonwealthJul 26, 2014

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time.

Not because everything overall is so bad, but because it is the exact opposite of what it set out to do.

Objective: create a movie that explores philosophical condondrums and incorporates thriller elements.

Execution: a nonsensical mess, with no rational progression or connections, before it erodes into a trite mawkish story devoid of ontology.

It starts out with the simple idea of choosing who will survive a disaster, based on a debate of merit and utility.

Instead of exploring this as an idea, the whole movie becomes scattered between the fact that the professor has rigged each progressively absurd thought experiment to 1. support his ideal outcome over logical ones 2. demonstrate his love and commitment to philosophy! (literally by having sex and attempted rape of his students in a thought experiment - if you can believe it becomes this dumb) 3. diminish one of his students who is a threat to his love life (who, by the way, figures out he's rigged the game with an elaborate magical box, but is unaware the professor is sleeping with his girlfriend).

Literally, in each thought experiment the professor somehow grabs a gun and is holding people hostage/threatening to shoot them - or rape them at gunpoint. Are you fing serious? I understand you can't compare your script to any of the few classic thought experiments that occurred in the first 3 minutes, but come on! This is so LAZY!

If you read any of that, I'm sure it's apparent this movie is no intelligent foray into existential issues or even a critique on social value standards. It's really just complete absurdity, with no (definable) point, and no redeeming qualities that would make you want to sit through this nonsense.

I award this movie no stars and may god have mercy on it's soul.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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HarmonicAug 30, 2014

There is no other words to describe this movie : What the Fu** ??
The trailer seemed so great : a philosophic reflection conjugated to an apocalypse ; and James d'Arcy, an actor I find very interesting... Well, it seemed to be a film for me.There is no other words to describe this movie : What the Fu** ??
The trailer seemed so great : a philosophic reflection conjugated to an apocalypse ; and James d'Arcy, an actor I find very interesting... Well, it seemed to be a film for me. NOT AT ALL !!! And the worst in this : there was a real potential. The special effects are good, the cast is approximately correct (even if some lines are really bad acted), and the story IS really good. It's just a movie with great possibilities which made all the bad choices and it gives us something very disgusting.
There are so many questions raised that, from the beginning, we look forward to the end. Average spectator, don't make this fatal error: you must expect anything of this movie! This movie will bring you no answer, will make that to raise of new questions which lead to nothing and will have one of the most hopeless ending I ever seen!
This end is so much disappointing that it is not even necessary to check the box "spoilers": we understand nothing, the characters are flat, not only once we understand their motivations and the editing would have been able to be interesting if the editor had the slightest information concerning the movie!
In short, this movie gives the impression of having been realized by several teams, which communicated between them at no time. Then, we assembled the various pieces, we stuck a rough music above and here is After-party the Dark!!

PS: I am French, please, indulgence for the mistakes!… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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metamorphApr 4, 2014

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. You would think that the movie which was also dubbed "the philosophers" will make your brain hurt , but instead your brain will hurt from its shallowness.

premise of the story is excellent: a mental exercise by a philosophy teacher where 21 students are found in post-apocalyptic world and one bunker that has capacity for 10 people. Each student was given an occupation and from there on they decide which 10 people stay and continue the human race and which will, well.. bite the dust. Teacher is "wild card" (i.e. makes up rules on the fly) and his motive initially appear noble (to teach), but eventually end up being on same level as his students, if not worse

However, what ruined the whole premise for me is the philosophy students with the high-school reasoning. I mean at almost very beginning, the movie (or rather one of the students) explains the infinitive monkey theory in detail, as if told to middle schoolers. It's like a movie dubbed 'the mathematician" explains addition to the audience in a way we explain to the kids.

From there on movie feels mediocre at best. The debate and love stories and fluffy things, leaves you with a feeling that the target audience are teenagers or people who post inspirational quotes on their facebook walls. I mean in this movie even teacher (a philosophy none the less) behaves as spoiled brat. Example: Throughout these scenarios, teacher is 'picking' on one male student ( which was only obvious when student explicitly said that) ...and why you ask??? well because teacher is in love with a female student that is in relationship with this male student.

Well, pardon me, but I got the feeling that teacher hates the "poet" guy, who he "kills" without any debate (as he thing poets in post apocalyptic world are useless) Seriously I got the feeling that teacher hates either poets or a guy who is a poet. I would be really pissed if i was that guy...but somehow being an agricultural specialist (needed in post apocalyptic world) who is also gay ( and in apocalypse we need to procreate; so gays are out of the question ) is 'setting up' and 'why are you hating on me mr teacher?" **** , for a sec there I really thought that movie has issues with gays. They failed miserably to show the moral debate of being homosexual and I assume Kant's imperative.

But THE worst part is when these high-school kids (or rather female protagonist) outsmarts the teacher with wish-wash happy ending scenario, where she chooses who will go into bunker. .Apparently , in this scenario, playing poker games and showing card tricks provides endless source of entertainment and where dismantling power equipment for the harp bares no consequence . There is a sense of zero responsibility and zero accountability and in this particular _winning_ scenario it looks like that the biggest problem is boredom (i am not joking) emphasizing how movie can appeal only to teenagers.

The movie tries to but fails miserably to show that life is worthless without love and art, ironically, it show this in most non-artistic way by appealing to basic instincts and romantic view of life. In nutshell the whole movie feels like if Big Brother (the reality show) wanted to be smart. Literally feels like that, even cast are like your typical big brother cast.… Expand

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

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stop9091Aug 28, 2017

A movie with a great, great premise, with only little defect: the poor execution, target demographic, script, and direction.

Everything crumbles shortly after the beginning, from the lighting, to the plot, to the characters. And the ending.A movie with a great, great premise, with only little defect: the poor execution, target demographic, script, and direction.

Everything crumbles shortly after the beginning, from the lighting, to the plot, to the characters. And the ending. OH THE ENDING. It's completely out of place, clearly, a marketing afterthought.

If you're an adult, save yourself the time, and maybe watch The wave.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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MiddleAgerSep 18, 2016

This movie has some nice shots. It's also set in Jakarta, which is different. There's a nice cast of mid-late twenty-somethings playing HS kids, which is normal. And there's interesting takes on philosophy and various well-known (well, IThis movie has some nice shots. It's also set in Jakarta, which is different. There's a nice cast of mid-late twenty-somethings playing HS kids, which is normal. And there's interesting takes on philosophy and various well-known (well, I didn't know them!) philosophical situations. So how about one where it's the end of the world, 10 out of 20 people can survive? Who wants to play?

Sounds interesting, but here's the fundamental problem of the movie: there's a big 'ol disconnect between the fantasy scenario and the classroom. Stuff happens in the nuclear bunker, but I just couldn't get over the question of: "What the heck is happening in the classroom right now?" Obviously, the action is taking place in the nuclear apocalypse scenario, but it's hard to care. It's just really odd, and kind of funny in an unintentional kind of way. Also some of those students really take things too seriously. I hope my kids aren't like that when they get older.

Also, as an experiment in philosophy, or even survival, or even a life lesson...it's pretty crappy. If that's a spoiler - that the movie is pretty much spoiled by the end - I'm sorry. I'll give it an extra point for the twist which almost saves this moralizing, pretentious, and really really weird (like what the hey, that doesn't make sense, weird) movie from being absolutely impossible to watch. In fact, that twist almost seems like where the movie should start, as far as I'm concerned.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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