Review: It’s a Wonderful Afterlife

Having satirised Austen, idolised Beckham and thrust Keira Knightley’s horsey pout intractably into the spotlight, Gurinder Chadha’s already got a fair amount to answer for. Surely the last thing she needs on her conscience is a crack at Frank Capra? Actually, film purists can rest easy for Afterlife plays more like a crap, Bollywood-inflected sitcom than its classic namesake. Apparently, Chadha got the idea for the Carrie-parodying climax while re-watching her own Bend It Like Beckham on a TV clips show. This should give you an idea of the level of invention on display.

Pitched as a cross between My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Shaun Of The Dead, but falling some distance short of either, this stodgy supernatural farce is riven with insoluble problems. The performances range from broad (investigating officer Mark Addy, from The Full Monty) to embarrassing (love interest Sendil Ramamurthy), the plot is unnecessarily précised every five minutes and the Greek chorus of ghouls pestering Mrs Sethi crowd the action like drunk guests in a wedding photo. Perhaps a little The Frighteners-style CGI would have helped them go about their (supposedly) comic business more elegantly or, even better, disappear into the ether entirely.

Adding insult to injury is the blooper reel that accompanies the end credits, which shows the cast and crew having a great old time, while audiences will, no doubt, be looking at their watches. It’s presumably meant to exemplify the play between exuberance and amateurism on which the film pivots, but the message to the viewer is: “There’s a party on set and – oops – we forgot to invite you.”