After the Wedding (2019)
- Corey Bulloch
- Nov 3, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 11, 2019
★★
A manager of an orphanage in Kolkata travels to New York to meet a benefactor. At a wedding, secrets between the two are unearthed.
Classification: 12A
A gender-swapped remake of the 2006 Danish film of the same name, After the Wedding starts strong with a captivating performance from Michelle Williams but writer-director Bart Freundlich is unable to stick the landing. The film after its initial first act reveal begins to descend quickly into weepy melodrama and while Williams' performance along with Julianne Moore and Billy Crudup do what they can to keep the film afloat, the film's effect on the audience lessens. Focusing on themes of family and responsibility a lot of the film's latter half ideas are interesting but are executed in the banalest ways possible making it unclear what the final message of the story should have been.
Freundlich builds tension to his first act primarily through Williams' performance and the musical score of Mychael Danna. It's subtle, this feeling of unease that something is going to go wrong but nothing becomes clear until Williams comes face to face with Crudup. Michelle Williams' performance as Isabel just feels like a character on the verge of eruption, a woman who committed her life to the welfare of Indian orphans, forced to go abroad and become alienated as she tries to get funding to continue the cause. However the explosion never really comes, Isabel has bursts of anger towards Moore's Theresa and Crudup's Oscar but it's frustrating to never see this character take charge of her own story. Whether its desperately trying to find serenity in meditation, being uncomfortable around wealth or kicking off her sandals in fits of rage, Williams' wordlessly captures the character's anxiety with her past and present. She's essentially a stranger in a strange land forced to reckon with her past through unseen machinations and Freundlich is unable to find the proper balance between Moore and William's storylines.
The score may be the best part of the film capturing all the unsettling and hidden truths between all the characters, a constant reminder that nothing is as it seems. As After the Wedding begins to unravel, this music remains consistent in capturing the tragedy and heartbreak of the performances where the script fails. The second and third acts try and juggle many new developments but its too much for Freundlich to handle as very little has the desired emotional effect. Nothing feels conclusive so when the film finally wraps up it just feels rushed or in some cases forgotten, like the film missed a step to get to its ending. Not even the emotional performances, especially from Moore and Williams, can hide these issues from the audience. Great dramatic moments from Moore's performance feel uncomfortable because Freundlich hasn't been able to get his film to the same level of commitment.
The title is, unfortunately, a clue to the criticism of the film as everything after the wedding in the film doesn't match the same heights of intrigue and tension from the actual event. It's not that the mystery is deflated by the reveal of Isobel, Theresa, and Oscar's connection but its how the aftermath is carried out and the fact subsequent revelations don't have the same impact or care handled to them. After the Wedding may follow the same plotline as its Danish counterpart but it's lacking the same emotional impact, the logic to the main drama can be a little confusing especially with the liberties taken. Leaving audiences very little, with only Michelle William's performance and Mychael Danna's score as the memorable standouts in an average family drama.
Director: #BartFreundlich
Release Date: November 1st 2019
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
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