Directed by Gurinder Chadha. Starring Shabana Azmi, Goldy Notay, Sally Hawkins, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Zoe Wanamaker, Mark Addy. 12A cert, gen release, 100 min
YOU HAVE to hand it to Gurinder Chadha. When the director of Bend it like Beckhammakes a really bad film, she doesn't just make a really bad film. She makes about eight or nine really bad films.
Where to begin with this impressively abysmal British comedy? As the moronic title suggests, it plumbs new depths in supernatural humour: a chorus of ghosts, wearing make-up from the Pound Shop, follows Mrs Sethi (Shabana Azmi), the elderly protagonist, everywhere she goes. It’s also something of a crime farce: Mrs Sethi has herself dispatched each of these spirits into their current limbo.
There's a romcom element: Mrs Sethi's daughter is in love with the police officer investigating the crime. It also works as a life-affirming piece: after experiencing the film's jaw-droppingly gratuitous, mind-bendingly incompetent pastiche of Carrie, you will run for the door and, free of Chadha air, savour every sweet breath as if it were your last.
The fact that Chadha clearly means well makes the project seem all the more irritating. Set in west London, Afterlifefinds the heroine making friends with her Jewish neighbour. Sikhs snuggle up to Hindus, the lion lies down with the lamb and Mrs Sethi's victims eventually forgive their own murderer.
One feels the director daring you to dislike the admirably inclusive project. Happily, most sensible punters will find themselves up to the task. Aside from anything else, no attempt is made to explain why we should identify with somebody who is clearly a homicidal maniac. A horse could make a better film without trying.
