Mary Tay

This film had some potential: an attention-loving party girl having to deal with being literally invisible - but none of that is explored in the film. Instead, the film sprawls all over the place with no real heart or message at its core. Afterlife of the Party can’t decide what it wants to be - is it a story about being a good friend or a good daughter? Is it about a girl who matchmakes all the people in her life or a girl who finds true love with a musician? What does any of the plot have to do with being an extroverted party girl? The strongest theme in this film is probably the power of friendship, but this is watered down by random subplots involving her father and estranged mother, her guardian angel who wants a promotion and her crush on some generic one direction-esque boyband singer. SPOILER ALERT 🚨 One device the movie uses excessively is the ghost’s ability to break into people’s houses without being caught (because she’s invisible). And oh yeah, the protagonist is a ghost but somehow she can manipulate physical objects? There’s no real explanation as to how she can do this, just that she and her best friend have some extra special connection (how convenient). This film feels like it was shot from a rushed first draft.

The premise that pulled me in is also the show's downfall. The sitcom aspect of the show traps Kevin in a stereotype and Allison in a stereotypical marriage. It would be far more compelling if we could see why Allison continues to stay with Kevin - perhaps give him one redeeming quality that explains why Allison stayed with him for 15 years. Adding some complexity to her and Kevin's marriage would add a whole new dimension to the show. I would've loved if at the end of season 1, Kevin stepped out of the sitcom set up and became a real person. This show has a lot going for it, including Annie Murphy’s performance and the juxtaposition between the sitcom scenes and dark, gritty scenes. Unfortunately, in trying to “make a statement” about the sitcom genre and how women are portrayed on tv, the writers forgot to actually entertain the audience.

Couldn't get through the first episode. The writers seem to think "dark comedy" means mashing together "dark", violent scenes, and "comedic" light-hearted scenes, rather than comedy that is actually dark. The result is a confused mess of a show - not only is the tone confused, but the story sprawls all over the place with no unifying theme or core plot to anchor it. Classic example of confused tone: At one point, Vincenzo is introduced to a slew of characters in an old apartment building and each character is introduced as though they've stepped right out of a horror movie. Does this directorial choice have any significance to the wider plot? Nope. The characters return in another scene as completely normal people capable of completely civilised conversation. [SPOILER WARNING] The only scene that truly compelled me was when Vincenzo had his luggage, money and watch stolen and he was left with nothing. But instead of finding a unique way out, the writers chose to have the scammers leave him with some petty cash so he easily gets a bus ride to his next destination and everything goes as planned -.- Why has nobody pointed out these flaws yet? How did this make it to production with an 18 million dollar budget?!