MANILA, Philippines - A massive tsunami tears through a small beach town in Indonesia, dragging a French journalist under the waters and into a fleeting death. On the streets of London’s harsh projects, an accident causes a young twin to be cut off forever from the brother that has always guided him. Across the world, in San Francisco, a man disconnects from life to shut out the voices of the dead.
What happens after death? How can someone so close just disappear? How can those left behind continue to live? Warner Bros.’ new supernatural drama, Hereafter explores three characters’ search for answers about their own lives in the face of what lies beyond.
“We don’t know what’s on the other side, but on this side, it’s final,” says director Clint Eastwood. “People have their beliefs about what’s there or what’s not there, but those are all hypotheticals. Nobody knows until you get there.”
“I think we all want to believe that there’s something beyond and we’re not sure what that might be,” adds producer Kathleen Kennedy. “It sounds funny to look at it this way, but I think life is often defined in the face of death.”
“Death touches the three characters in this film in ways most people don’t experience,” says producer Robert Lorenz. “But, in one way or another, we can all relate to the core emotions of the story — love, loss, loneliness and connection. These are things we all experience.”
Matt Damon, who stars in the film, agrees, noting, “The point isn’t to sit there and be a lonely nihilist. The point is to reach out to the other people that are here on the planet with you. And I think that’s ultimately a very life-affirming message.”
“As I was writing the script, I was unaware of the fact that I’d created three very lonely characters who were somehow seeking completion from one another,” offers screenwriter Peter Morgan.
Opening soon in theaters, Hereafter is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.