Afterschool

2008
Directed By Antonio Campos


SYNOPSIS

Rob (Ezra Miller) is an unhappy loner at a prep school. He joins an extracurricular video club and one of his assignments is to get video of the school's hallways. While doing so, he captures the overdose deaths of popular twin girls. He then gets assigned to make a video to memorialize the beloved girls.

MY THOUGHTS

A unique look at the life of the modern teen.

Despite it's uniqueness, Aftershool in many ways is reminiscent of Gus Van Sant's 2003 film Elephant. The film's use of uncomfortably overlong shots convey the authentic unease of the high school years matches the earlier film. The natural performances filled with many dialogue-free passages and dark subject matter also ape Elephant. Despite the similarities, the two films are very different beasts.

One thing Elephant was lacking was one central performance to unify it together. Ezra Miller shines with his sensitive and complex portrayal of Rob. He perfectly captures the angst and alienation of the teen years without cliche.

The only thing Rob can connect to is YouTube-type videos. The film makes a definite and valid comment how the internet (from porn to violent videos) is disconnecting us all from communicating directly with each other.

Afterschool could easily be called 'boring' or 'dull' by the average film-goer. Its style may be oft-putting for some, but its realism makes for a compelling film. Thankfully, we still have filmmakers who try to make something against the norm.