Written and directed by Susan Moffat, Alice thinks her life’s hit the bottom, until she accidentally kills her elderly neighbour Thomas, and his ghost convinces her to hide his body in order to keep his soul away from his abusive wife. Starring: India Barnett, Geoff Baron, Frances Broudie Oldridge and Anne Baron.
Susan Moffat has a solid concept because comedy loves kicking someone while they’re down and unlikely friendships, although usually the other person is still alive. It’s a strong foundation, with a mix of black comedy and old-school British sitcom. It’s funny but it runs into problems when it starts to lean too much towards that sitcom quality. The tone can feel like it’s trying too hard for laughs, everything is very intentional rather than having a more natural build, so it gives the feel of something like Still Game.
The difficulty is those two things don’t always go together, there’s a family-friendly tone at work while Happily Ever Afterlife isn’t actually that family friendly. So, it’s holding the short back from embracing its dark side, to truly lean into a black comedy style. It can also feel slow, the runtime is coming in a fair bit longer than you might expect for this type of short and it’s difficult to sustain. Moffat is ultimately losing the quirky, charmingly offbeat nature of the characters and plot by drawing things out further than they needed to be.
It’s not quite working hand in hand with the great friendship that Alice (India Barnett) builds with Thomas’ (Geoff Baron) ghost. There’s something simple yet reflective to it, it creates that classic connection of having someone’s perspective open up your own eyes. It’s sweet and extremely British, Baron gives us the wise older grandfather type while Barnett gives us the young and frazzled woman who hasn’t quite found her path yet, in need of some guidance. They’re a really enjoyable duo, they just needed a snappier pacing and a bit more darkness to make the most of them.
Happily Ever Afterlife has a great concept and it’s funny and silly but unfortunately, it never quite gets to grips with the macabre nature of the story, it’s a little too light-hearted and slowly paced to tap into its bigger potential. The direction is simple but solid, the performances are enjoyable and there’s plenty to like but the final product isn’t making the most of all that its ingredients have to offer.
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