Quinzaine des Réalisateurs review - THE HERE AFTER by Magnus von Horn

A history of violence. Magnus von Horn's feature directorial debut The Here After was features in the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs programme of the 68th Cannes Film Festival.

In Sweden, any young person who commits a crime is sentenced to a maximum of four years in prison. The leading character in The Here After is John, who looks like any average teenager, but is actually returning to his rural hometown after serving two years for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. Despite his best intentions at starting life afresh, and his attempts to ignore the always more vocal opposition to his return from his tightknit community, his return is far from easy as he even gradually starts to lose the support of the people he loves. 

Magnus von Horn's film feels like the direct descendant of films such as M by Fritz Lang that humanises the character of the criminal, and recalls the tension and cultural setting of films such as The Hunt by Thomas Vinterberg. It is a relatively quiet and sombre film, meditative in its delicate theme, with a strong focus on its leading character. However, its widely non judgemental approach also gives the audience the opportunity to pick sides on the matter and doesn't necessarily constantly side with its leading character. On his part, Ulrik Munther in the role of John delivers a very restrained performance that further makes him ambiguous and even encourages a slight tension through his constant bottling up of emotions, that we feel might erupt at any moment.

Particularly morally conflicing is John's romantic involvement with a local girl, but equally as dramatically engaging is his constant clashing with his father. The Here After does have, however, a fair amount of familiar elements that prevent it from making a particularly stand out statement. Some of the sequences are downright naive and predictable, and this lessens its overall impact of the film. 

But the solemnity and meditative nature of the film is enhanced by the excellent camerawork by Lukasz Zal, who shoots on film and keeps the camera quite still and distant from the leading character, as if we the audience were looking at him from afar, unobtrisive and yet judgemental.