This is easily the most bizarre movie I’ve seen this year. So, if you like bizarre and you like dark, twisted humor, put on your indie cap and go see this one cause you won’t be disappointed. Everyone else, you can take the chance and you might like it but don’t say I didn’t warn you if you don’t. Having had a lot more exposure to these “weird” indie films in the last few years, I’m more accustomed to them so I actually liked it. The concept is what drew me to it. I wanted to see how this afterlife was portrayed. It was interesting and almost believable. Is it realistic? Is this what hell is like, or is this a purgatory? Priscilla and I agree that it is way too light to be hell so I would lean more toward purgatory. However, we don’t really know for sure if it’s like either one now do we, so we can just go along with this concept for the fun of it.

This movie was very well cast with performances that bring this relatively weak story to life (pun intended) in just the right way. Patrick Fugit in the lead role as Zia brings a genuine somberness to the character. Zia recently got dumped by his beautiful girlfriend Desiree (Leslie Bibb). Unable to handle the pain, he decides to off himself (a technical term used throughout the picture). But first, he needs to clean up his apartment in the aftermath of the tornado that had gone through . . . not really, but that’s what it looked like. After picking up the scattered clothes, picking up and taking out the trash, spraying and dusting, vacuuming, and organizing to the point that it would please an OCD person, he goes to the bathroom and becomes a wristcutter. Now is when the real “fun” begins. He is transported to world very similar to this one, only worse. It is pale, empty, old, run-down, and void of any happiness. There are no smiles and no stars in the night sky. It is inhabited by all those that have offed themselves so at least everyone has something in common. He develops a friendship with Eugene (Shea Whigham), a Russian semi-professional musician. By the way, Eugene’s music is played throughout the movie and it fits perfectly. By chance Zia finds out that Desiree offed herself as well. Zia convinces Eugene to take him on a quest to find Desiree in this desolate world. Good luck! They get in Eugene’s beat up old 1980-something Toyota Camry station wagon and hit the road without knowing exactly where they are going, only that they are going. Along the way they find a hitchhiker named Mikal (the lovely Shannyn Sossamon) who claims to be there erroneously. The guys offer to help her so she tags along for the ride. As the relationship between the three of them flourishes, the plot thickens.

All three main actors, Patrick, Shea, and Shannyn, were brilliant in their performances. Even with the toning down effect of their environment, you can still feel the chemistry between them. In the midst of this apathetic world, these characters have reason to strive to reach a goal. It is their only charm. Speaking of this apathetic world, the cinematography was masterful. There is a subtle yet well defined coloration difference between the real life and this world for committers of suicide. The real world is a little more colorful while the afterlife is strongly pale and lifeless. The views of desert lands and empty roads with trashed cars and ripped up furniture adds to the effect. It’s like being in the slums of a third world country. The film did drag at some moments and was confusing in others. If you can hold on to the basic and typical premise which is the love story, you can manage. Director Goran Dukic also wrote the screenplay for this project. He does a good job of transporting you to this interpretation of an afterlife for suicide victims. It is a far cry from that which you might have seen in What Dreams May Come or even Constantine. Both of those are more dramatic and severe while this one is a lot more down to earth, literally. It makes it easier to relate to. WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD. Call me old-fashioned, but I love a movie with a happy ending. Goran had the decency to grace us with one after having spent so much time in this depressing place. I must say that it is one of the sweetest endings I have ever seen on the big screen.