Elderly Xinhao (Jim Lau) walks around an empty city. He visits multiple locations, from the riverbank to the space centre. Meanwhile, a narrator explains their meaning. The deceptively simple premise of this 11-minute short film opens up the doors to manifold visual creations.

Xinhao melts into his bed, lending After That a taste of horror. This moment becomes lost in the film’s many haunting images and words. Only in hindsight does the meaning of this scene deepen. It speaks about emotional and physical fatigue, and the desire to escape, to free ourselves of the burden of everyday life. We exist across different layers of consciousness. Afterlife is a state of unconsciousness detached from our physical shells. Herein lies the power of After That. It does not speak at or instruct the audience. Instead, it makes unconscious suggestions and ignites thoughts. Ideas emerge of their own volition.

Each viewing of the film will see a shift in our perception of the story. Inevitably our eye will be drawn to its rich array of imagery: the nature, the landscape, the skies and the water. These will forge different thoughts and ideas. While After That’s abstract artistry creates a fluid sense of meaning, Directir Xinhao Lu and Mufeng Han entertain at least one concrete idea: the fear of WW3. They question whether humankind can resists the “death drive” (the foolish urge to expedite our demise).

To boot, After That is a rumination on human self-awareness. It toys with the notion that we are players in our own story, and that the world is a stage. The narrator uses the second person in his voiceover: this might simply be an extension of Xinhao’s ego. This device helps to place Xinhao at the heart of the story. the two filmmakers allow their audiences to have fun in pulling apart the dreamlike world that they created.

The two helmer, who also sign the cinematography, opted to film After That in Super 8, adding an otherworldly vibe to the proceedings. This quality is ambiguous. It appears that the film is set in the future, but one can never shake the feeling that this might be something else. After That feels like a dream or an experimental movie, while also emphasising the topic of memory.

After That premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival.