After the Pandemic (2022)

The soundtrack feels over the top, as over the top as you’ll find in ridiculous Lifetime or Hallmark TV movies. Instead of adding to the film’s tension the soundtrack of this movie exaggerates everything, taking the proceedings into almost parody territory.

When it’s all said and done, After the Pandemic turns out to be a pleasant little story about a friendship that springs from the unlikeliest of places. The neat bowtie of an ending does the rest of the movie a disservice, however. This is not a bowtie sort of narrative. This is the sort of film that should end with its hair ruffled, its shirt torn, and a tooth missing — smiling, limping, or both.

The catalyst of the film is a deadly pandemic, but I found that the movie was more about human connection than anything else. It's the connections we have that keep life livable, and "After the Pandemic" reminds us of that. Like the oddly clean world and cut grass, little things don't "really" amount too much when you're enjoying the film for what it is. A good story.