Life After

Life After is an aptly named film about Police Detective Ashley “Ash” Seger, who is struggling to cope after losing her partner and lover. Played by Torri Yates-Orr, Ash offers no response to her boss who tells her to get over it and move on, as if imposing a clock on grieving is realistic. Instead, Ash retreats to her Nashville apartment and takes her frustration out on her core by mad-crunching until she is called into a hostage situation sometime later.

Right before heading to the scene, she reluctantly meets her new partner and lead hostage negotiator Detective Matthew Booker (Parker Bradwell of country music trio MAMADEAR). When they arrive on scene, Commander Dax (Mykie Fisher) informs them of a note on the warehouse door with a riddle, a phone number, and the names of three people presumably being held hostage. Perplexed but confident, Booker calls the number, and we are immediately introduced to the story’s complication as the voice on the other end sends chills up our spines.

Kidnappers have a pretty monolithic portrayal — deranged, outraged, and out of control, but predictable. However, the male voice on the phone is best described as controlled, rational, and highly educated, far different from the bitter, revenge-driven ramblings of the captors often seen in hostage-taking dramas like Speed and Olympus Has Fallen. In Life After, we are suddenly set in the grips of this story and feel placed at the antagonist’s mercy. Despite the dozens of police, SWAT personnel, automatic weapons, and even a helicopter on scene, we quickly realize that the situation is dire, and the authorities no longer have control over it.

Life After looks, feels, and sounds like a big-screen production. So much so that it brings to mind F. Gary Gray’s gritty theatrical release, The Negotiator. The 1998 film stars Samuel L. Jackson as the title character with a reputation for smoothly taking control of what are often volatile situations with lives at risk. What we learn from Jackson’s character is that the key to negotiating is the ability to establish a rapport with your counterpart. So, when Booker is unable to do this by first answering the morbid riddle posed by the kidnapper, Ash reticently and hurriedly interjects with the answer and is suddenly thrust into the middle of the negotiations. Her fragile emotional state suggests she is unprepared for such a heavy responsibility, but she is left with little choice. Her answer to his riddle resonates so strongly with him that he will have it no other way. Indeed, his riddle conveys the sense that he too is reeling from the loss of a loved one. But will this empathy, this connection, be enough to get everyone out of this situation safely?

In addition to its sophisticated, big-screen cinematography, writer/director Jesse Edwards infuses the film with timely musical elements by composer Ryan Taubert that enhance the suspense and heighten the intensity of the scenes throughout its 25-minute runtime. At moments during the standoff, for example, the kidnapper imposes time limits on his demands. As the deadlines approach, the tempo and volume of the music rise, increasing the pounding of our hearts and immersing us more and more deeply into the dilemma unfolding on screen. The technique shifts us from the perspective of audience members to feeling like characters in the film, wanting to grab the shirt lapels of the police officers and scream “ANSWER HIM.” This tension also occurs when the authorities consider whether or not to acquiesce to the kidnapper’s demands. The rhythmically steady beats and deep sounds at these moments convey the seriousness of the situations.

In an interview, Edwards notes that the film was written and shot in just four weeks. This timeframe is not unusual for short films. What is unusual is the big-screen look and feel of the film, and its use of music. Throughout the movie, I could not help but feel that this production could be lengthened and greenlit as a theatrical release. While the dilemma it presents is a bonus, though, the longer version might just require a resolution.

Available on Apple TV