Life After (film)

Last updated
Life After
Life After poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed byReid Davenport
Produced byColleen Cassingham
Cinematography Amber Fares
Edited byDon Bernier
Music by Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe
Production
companies
Multitude Films
Straw House Productions
Sundance Institute
Release dates
  • January 27, 2025 (2025-01-27)(Sundance)
  • July 18, 2025 (2025-07-18)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Life After is a 2025 American documentary film that explores the story of Elizabeth Bouvia, who in 1983 sought the legal right to die. It was directed by Reid Davenport. [1] [2] It premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, and was given a limited theatrical release on July 18, 2025. [3]

Contents

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 100% of 29 critics' reviews are positive. [4] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 83 out of 100, based on four critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [5]

Murtada Elfadl of Variety wrote, "Elizabeth Bouvia's story becomes the sharp framework used by Davenport for his fervent and generous rallying cry for people with disabilities to be in control of their lives. Life After empathetically and methodically shows the fallacy of assisted suicide as a choice for disabled people, it's instead a result of flailing healthcare, strapped-for-resources medical institutions and the failure of governments to protect their citizens." [1]

Esther Zuckerman of IndieWire gave the film an A- and wrote, "Davenport is solely focused on the topic of assisted suicide as it relates to disability. He is not interested in diving into how it applies to terminal illness at all. For anyone who argues that makes Life After one-sided, Davenport's own voice provides a furious counterpart to that. Davenport is considered in how he inserts himself on screen. His pull toward Elizabeth's tale is that he sees himself in her, but he also lets his subjects tell their stories without interruption." [3]

Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film three out of four stars and wrote that it's "a powerful movie that examines the political and social structures that surround and control people with disabilities, and comes to a conclusion that will spark many arguments." [6]

References

  1. 1 2 Elfadl, Murtada (January 28, 2025). "'Life After' Review: An Empathetic and Confrontational Doc About Disabled People's Right to Be in Control". Variety . Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  2. Kenigsberg, Ben (July 17, 2025). "'Life After' Review: What the End Means". The New York Times . Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  3. 1 2 Zuckerman, Esther (July 16, 2025). "'Life After' Review: A Passionate and Surprising Argument for the Disabled Community". IndieWire . Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  4. "Life After". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved August 13, 2025.
  5. "Life After". Metacritic . Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  6. Zoller Seitz, Matt (July 18, 2025). "Life After". RogerEbert.com . Retrieved July 19, 2025.