After We Leave

These 1- and 2-star reviews are just ridiculous. People really have been dumbed down by Hollywood. If you like your movies glossy, formulaic, and with neat little endings that tie up all the loose ends, then this is not for you. But if you like movies with originality, that make you think, then give this a go. It's not fantastic, and it can be a little slow, but it's definitely worth watching. I'm glad I did.

I'm not one to slam new filmmakers, but newb writer, director and producer Aleem Hossain should've had a seasoned screenwriter go over his script.

The premise of the story was decent, but there was too much filler and very little substance. The ridiculously long and unnecessary near-still camera shots got annoying very fast. The plot and technical issues were very evident. Not even taking the slow pacing into account, the lack of substance made this 82 min run-time feel like almost 3 hours. This film needed to be a short, or a 1 hour TV length. What's worse, was Hossain's attempt for a plot twist at the end that was a huge fail, and gave this film that generic dumb ending you see in many cheap b-grade films.

Aside from the long dragged out scenes, Hossain's directing and camera work was ok for a newb, although the few action scenes had terrible choreography and poor camera angles. The cinematography and color choice needed to be much better. Even for a low budget indie film, the sci-fi should've been more apparent than a few CGI moments. Without those, you'd think the timeline was the 1980's. Although the score was quite fitting and impressive for a b-grade film, sadly, the sound was terrible especially during the action sequences e.g. gun fire. The acting was the main highlight of this film.

This film is not anything close to a 10, but certainly undeserving of any 1 and 2's. Cutting some slack for new filmmakers, I'm giving this film a generous 5/10.

The ending to this film was just bad. A twist that failed to contort into anything of worth.

It had an ok premise and lofty aspirations as an Indy film, but It just couldn't hit any of the marks. The storyline was predictable for all the bad reasons. The script lacked any punch. Visual effects were nonexistent and the acting was wooden at best.

Hossain is not a good director. He fails to bring the viewer into a future in any meaningful way. As has been noted elsewhere, the film looks set in the late 20th century. Nothing hints at when this takes place where space colonization would be commonplace.

Action scenes in this were just...lacking with subpar choreography and bad framing. So much more could have been done. The only positive is the soundtrack but even that gets bludgeoned with careless audio editing and low levels.

Watching this was a mistake. I should have read a book!

I was very taken by this subversive, slow-burn sci-fi about immigration and the Haves and Have-Nots. It has a well-executed, almost noir aesthetic (shot by Destroyer's Julie Kirkwood), solid acting, strong editing, and an excellent, brooding score. As a first feature filmmaker, Aleem Hossain has shown amazing potential with what he can do on a tiny budget. And seeing how many awards the film picked up at sci-fi festivals, it's clear the tastemakers agree this film is a noteworthy addition to the genre. Its ponderous tone may not be for the action-loving crowd - it's more Kelly Reichardt than James Cameron - but if you like thoughtful SF, definitely check it out.

Sci-fi != rockets. Sci-Fi = new situations. If you can take the same story and put it in another setting and nothing really changes then it's not Sci-Fi, it's just a drama. That it happens to take place with some futuristic elements is not enough to call it Sci-Fi

All we really get from this is a drama about a guy looking for his wife with a hard deadline to find her. The setting is mostly superfluous. I bring that up because putting it in a Sci-Fi dressing sets some expectations that there will be something new added to the world. What if robots became sentient. What if an AI declared war on the world. What if everyone had 24/7 video cameras in their eyes. What if AR was so real it caused PTSD, What if time travel was actually possible, etc...

This movie doesn't really add a strong enough "what if" to be sci-fi so when all is said and done it's a mostly mediocre drama about a guy that for some reason left his wife but now wants to find her and the only person that knows where she is is someone he screwed over previously and mostly wants to see him suffer/die.

The only things we get from the "what if" are a dead line and a reason to need his wife even if he doesn't care about her. He may or may not care about her but he needs her regardless. Those situations already exist in the real world. For example visas expire. I know several friends that had to move back to their home country even though they didn't want to leave, because their visa expired. They desperately tried to find a new job (job = visa sponsor) before their deadline, failed and had to leave. Needing a spouse for a visa is also a real world issue.

Basically this is not a Sci-Fi movie but because it's dressed as one it only disappoints those mis-lead by the setting. Remove the setting and not much changes.

I think the ending is not such a bad idea though I can see how in the end it's unstatifying and that the build up to get there doesn't make it worth while.