Preparation for the Next Life

Name: Preparation for the Next Life
Genre: Drama
Released: September 5, 2025
Rating: 80

2025

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Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

Amazon MGM Studios | Release Date: September 5, 2025 | R

Summary: Aishe (Sebiye Behtiyar), a Uyghur woman trained by her military father, migrates to New York City where she finds herself laboring in Chinatown’s underground kitchens. She fatefully encounters Skinner (Fred Hechinger), a young American soldier who has just returned from three tours in the Middle East. While falling in love, they discoverAishe (Sebiye Behtiyar), a Uyghur woman trained by her military father, migrates to New York City where she finds herself laboring in Chinatown’s underground kitchens. She fatefully encounters Skinner (Fred Hechinger), a young American soldier who has just returned from three tours in the Middle East. While falling in love, they discover the possibility of a better life together than the ones they believed they were destined to live alone.… Expand

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: R

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Critic Reviews

Jeannette Catsoulis

Sep 4, 2025

Preparation for the Next Life is all the more potent for choosing naturalism over melodrama and sensitivity over sentiment. Read full review

Peter Rainer

Sep 4, 2025

It would be natural to place this film in the context of America’s ongoing immigration crisis. Certainly it is “topical.” But I think Liu and Majok have transcended its immediate relevance. It’s a human drama, not a sociological artifact. Because of its quality of feeling, and the remarkable performances of its two leads, it will likely outlast its historical moment. Read full review

Alison Willmore

Sep 5, 2025

The adaptation frames the relationship it depicts less as a romance than as the intersection of two individuals in their own moments of transition. It’s a much better movie for it, though I’d guess that one of the reasons it’s getting such a quiet release is that it’s not a desperate melodrama about people trying to save each other. Read full review

David Rooney

Aug 28, 2025

Other attributes carried over from Liu’s nonfiction work are his restraint and avoidance of sentimentality in a slow-burn, heavily observational drama whose unhurried pacing requires patience. But there’s a haunting quality to the melancholy story that stays with you, and despite what often seems like a bleak outlook, it finds resonant notes of hope. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Isaac Feldberg

Sep 5, 2025

Reckoning with the sacrifices that people make to survive in this country, and with the ugliness of what real love can sometimes resemble, [Liu] emerges with an achingly honest meditation on the loneliness of building a life for oneself. Read full review

Katie Walsh

Sep 4, 2025

Preparation for the Next Life is a powerful assertion of dreams, humanity and hard work — arguing that every person has a past, a future and a story to tell. Read full review

Next Best Picture Lauren LaMagna

Aug 30, 2025

Preparation for the Next Life emerges as a poignant and empathetic examination of the challenges faced by young people in America. Through Bing Liu’s sensitive direction and Sebiya Behtiyar’s standout performance, it tells the story of two survivors bound by love but trapped in circumstances beyond their control. Read full review

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