Movie / Hereafter

A very pleasant and cleanly made film starring Matt Damon and Cecile de France, directed by Clint Eastwood, with Steven Spielberg up in the credits. It helps if you have some sympathy to the idea of an afterlife, which is the main theme of the film. Die hard atheists should probably steer clear.

Its most memorable moments (for me) included a clear eyed reenactment of the previous big Indonesian tsunami (surprise, incredible violence, tons of CGI and stunts), in which Cecile's character nearly dies, but comes back after having a near-death experience, which changes her life in major ways. Also it's the first film I've seen where all 3 main characters, when confronted with difficult life decisions, turned to Google for answers!

The plot has 3 major threads, which cut back and forth but remain unrelated for a long time. In one Cecile, a French newscaster, nearly dies and ends up writing a book about the Hereafter. In another a young British lad (whose Mum's a heroin addict) experiences grief after the death of his twin brother and goes on a desperate search to communicate with him. In the third Matt Damon plays an SF-based psychic (and Charles Dickens fan) who can communicate with the dead, but is trying desperately to leave all that behind so he can live a normal life.

Eventually the 3 threads come together in a satisfying ways. I left the theater wondering, okay, so if there's a Hereafter, hmmm, what should I try to clean up about my life to make it more defensible?