After Life is a Japanese drama film directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda and released in 1998. The film takes place in a purgatory-like waystation where the dead arrive and have seven days to decide on a single memory to be preserved and relived for eternity. The waystation is run by a small staff of counselors who interview the newly dead and help them to choose their memory.
The film follows the stories of several of these counselors and the dead who come through the waystation. We see their struggles to come to terms with death and choose a single memory that they feel will define their lives. Some choose happy memories, while others choose painful ones, and some struggle to choose at all.
As the deadline approaches, the counselors work feverishly to help those who are still undecided. The film ends with the final choices being made and the memories being created.
After Life is a meditative and emotionally charged film that explores themes of memory, loss, and the nature of existence itself. It was critically acclaimed upon release and has since become a beloved classic of Japanese cinema.