So recently, After Life appeared on Netflix. It is show written and directed by, and also starring Ricky Gervais. The premise is that Tony (Gervais’ character), loses his wife to cancer. Tony is middle-aged, no children, living in a small town somewhere in Britain. He works as an investigative journalist, which is a fancy way of saying he works for the local (shitty) newspaper.
I won’t delve too much into the story itself, but it is a pretty diverse show. It starts off very funny with Tony using his grief as a means to say whatever he wants, when he wants. Seeing as Ricky Gervais is a pretty funny guy, this gets good pretty quickly. The humor is dark and fast-paced and self-deprecating. This is completely down my alley so naturally I took to it pretty quickly.
However, there are layers to the show. Gradually, Tony learns that this is perhaps not the way moving forward. Without spoiling too much, this is not without its setbacks and bumps in the road of course. We find him reflecting on his life with his wife but also the lessons he learns living without her. Even the meaning of life itself is a central theme.
The cast is rich and complentary, episodes are short but long enough and there is a good mix of humor and deeper realizations and knowledge.
You wont be disappointed if you look your humor raw and dark, tinged with a lining of profound sadness and life-lessons.
End review: 8/10