After (2012)★★★★☆

Okay, so maybe I kind of have a thing for horror movies that straddle the line between horror and other genres. Which isn’t to say that I don’t love a good, old-fashioned, classic scary story, because I do…I just tend to gravitate towards the movies that mean a little bit more than a few terrifying moments.

And yes, that’s where this movie falls. Somewhere inside the horror genre but also squarely inside the romance genre. And yes, I’m a hopeless romantic. So of course I liked this one.

I like that it starts in the middle of the action, without much pomp OR circumstance. And I like the actors. The chemistry between Ana and Freddy builds slowly but believably throughout the film, which made the ending feel like an emotional punch in the gut…but you know, in a good way.

It’s a slow movie, but it feels deliberately slow rather than poorly paced. There’s a lot of build up to the climactic scenes, but it works. And I think it works mostly because the payoff is pretty damn good.

This isn’t a perfect film, of course. The music is a bit much at times, acting as a distraction more than punctuation, and there are a lot of questions left unanswered at the end. But it’s an interesting story that will definitely make you feel something. I’d recommend this as a date movie (though maybe not a first date), or at least one to watch while curled up next to someone you love.