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Ezra Miller, Jeremy White, Emory Cohen, Michael Stuhlbarg, Addison Timlin ... see more see more... , Rosemarie DeWitt , Lee Wilkof , Paul Sparks , Bill Raymond , Gary Wilmes , Christopher McCann

Violence and voyeurism lurk beneath the surface of life at an exclusive prep school in this independent drama. Robert (Ezra Miller) is a high school student who has made a hobby out of dulling his sen... read more read more...ses with violent pornography that he finds on the Internet. While Robert doesn't have many friends, he does have a habit of documenting the habits of his classmates with a digital video camera, and he happens to be on hand when two girls from his class succumb to fatal drug overdoses. As the deaths leave the school's faculty at a lost for what to do and send many of the students into a state of depression and denial, Robert finds himself becoming even more alienated from the world around him. Afterschool was the first feature film from writer and director Antonio Campos, and was screened as part of the "Un Certain Regard" series at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

42% liked it

941 ratings

Critics

76% liked it

41 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 46 min.

Directed by: Antonio Campos

Release Date: May 18, 2008

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DVD Release Date: April 1, 2010

Stats: 118 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (118)

  • dunmyer
    November 24, 2011
    dunmyer
    Well that's 100 minutes I'll never get back. I tracked down "Afterschool" because it was produced by Sean Durkin, writer/director of the spine-tingling "Martha Marcy May Marlene." But, oh my God, "Afterschool" is nothing like "Martha Marcy." My jaw hung open through most of "Mart... read moreha" because it was so good. My mouth hung open through most of "Afterschool" because it was so bad.

    Writer/director Antonio Campos, in his feature-film debut, brings us a mind-numbingly boring and empty story about zombie-like teenagers in an elite boarding school. I appreciate that Campos and Durkin hired actual teenagers to play the teenage characters. This is a pleasure, as most often teenage characters are played by 25-year-olds pretending to be adolescent. But this is the only thing about the project that was any good.

    Campos appears to have been trying to make some kind of comment about the impact of computer-based video on 21st-century teenagers. The main character watches clips on You Tube a lot and walks around in a stupor. All his schoolmates are in a similar stupor and have meaningless sex while on drugs. These characters bear no resemblance whatsoever to the teenagers with whom I interact, who are cauldrons of emotion and energy. They may be a bit aimless, but they're far from catatonic.

    The drama (if you can call it that) surrounds a drug overdose that the main character accidentally captures on video. He stands there dumbfounded as two girls choke to death in the school hallway and doesn't call for help. It's like he's watching a video, get it? Can't tell the difference between video and reality. Ugh.

    We watch afterward as the well-meaning but feckless teachers and police try to figure out why the boy did nothing. But no one really "gets through to him" (as feckless adults are fond of saying). I think most You Tube videos have more interesting things to say than "Afterschool." At least they have a pulse.
  • ualush
    November 6, 2010
    ualush
    Afterschool is filmed and paced in a very simplistic manner, which might be why the film has a haunting feeling. As a director I have never heard of Antonio Campus, but this film has peaked an interest into what other films he might have directed. However, this film did leave me ... read morewanting more. With the simplistic approach subplots were touched on and never really examined or resolved. In the end this film could have been more.
  • JavaBratt
    October 24, 2010
    JavaBratt
    All I keep thinking is, there went two hours of my life I'll never get back. This was by far one of the dumbest movies I have ever seen. I highly recommend NOT bothering with this and watching something else.

View All Afterschool Reviews

Critic Reviews

Andrew O'Hehir
October 9, 2009
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com

It's both a supremely controlled exercise in form and tone and an intriguing exploration of the ways new technology intersects with age-old questions of dominance, control and individuality, particula... Full Review

Lisa Schwarzbaum
October 7, 2009
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

Anthony Campos (who was 24 when he made this jolting pic) captures the numbing psychic scramble that just might cause the YouTube generation to go morally haywire. Or become filmmakers. Full Review

Kyle Smith
October 2, 2009
Kyle Smith, New York Post

Though thin on story, the film shows poise and vision, using bleak cinema-realite techniques with chilling effect. Campos promises to be heard from again. Full Review

Neil Genzlinger
October 2, 2009
Neil Genzlinger, New York Times

Those with the patience to wait out Mr. Campos's overindulgences will definitely leave Afterschool unnerved, which is probably exactly what he had in mind. Full Review

J. Hoberman
September 29, 2009
J. Hoberman, Village Voice

Afterschool, the almost frighteningly accomplished first feature made by Antonio Campos when he was 24, is high school as horror show. Full Review

Deborah Young
October 18, 2008
Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter

A morbidly fascinating prep school tragedy which also is a stylistically uncompromisingly vision of hypocritical America.

Justin Chang
October 18, 2008
Justin Chang, Variety

Unsettles without illuminating, marred by narcotic pacing and a blank lead performance. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
June 9, 2011
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

The film examines such relevant issues as violence in school, voyeurism, and abuse. Full Review

William Goss
December 17, 2009
William Goss, Cinematical

When not downright creepy, it's quietly damning of an administration willing to point all the wrong fingers and play up all the wrong angles before brushing the matter aside. Full Review

Mike McGranaghan
November 4, 2009
Mike McGranaghan, Aisle Seat

This is a little movie well worth checking out. The performances are very natural, and the themes are enticingly provocative. Full Review

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