Afterlife of the Party Review: A Surprisingly Partyless Study of Grief

Afterlife of the Party isn’t so much about the party as it is about crying in the club.

This Victoria Justice-led supernatural comedy follows Cassie, a socialite big on socializing, who winds up dead after a wild night of partying. Now, Cassie has only a few short days to mend the shattered relationships she left behind before she passes on to the afterlife.

Everything about Afterlife of the Party suggests this film is here for a good time, not a long time. That it will lean into Cassie’s partying ways to orchestrate a surface-level screwball take on the life-after-death trope.

What we get instead is an insightful and contemporary study of grief that has no business in the club.

Afterlife of the Party is bizarrely grounded and emotional. That’s in huge part thanks to Lisa (played by Dash and Lily’s Midori Francis) and Cassie’s friendship. Their bond is well developed with the desire to rekindle the spark between them slowly becoming the heart of this film — and the main measure of its success.

Despite being marketed as a comedy, this afterlife special is much more contemporary and melancholy in execution.

This gives Cassie’s mission and her death surprising weight as the party girl persona is ditched almost immediately in favor of a woman overcome with grief and anger.

The subject matter is dense and driven by tangible relationships; the most prominent being Cassie and her estranged mother. The film gives the impression these relationships are real entities we can invest time in and not plot tools used to mold the protagonist.

The pop-centric soundtrack breathes life into this story when the usual archetypes of this trope refuse. The fashion is also a triumph as Cassie’s high-end party wear slowly transforms into a more casual-sleek style to represent her desire to shed the socialite persona.

Victoria Justice navigates the ridiculous physical comedy of this film with the expertise of a Nickelodeon-alum, and she could bring that same over-the-top performance to her social butterfly of a character.

Instead, Cassie never really feels like a party girl.

In some sentiments, she is the least fleshed-out character of this film because she spends most of her time pushing along the growth of others. That said, when Cassie is in the presence of Lisa, there’s a depth that Justice and Francis bring to life in incredibly endearing ways.

The romantic elements of this film are a delight to watch, especially when it comes to Lisa and next-door neighbor Max. The two are so ridiculously introverted and geeky in each other’s presence, it’s impossible not to root for them to get together.

And Cassie’s own obsession with singer Koop is a great running bit throughout the story with its own weird payoff.

With everything this film manages to do right, it should pack a rather meaningful punch and there are certainly times that will catch in your throat. However, the run time and dull pacing all but work against it.

You can only fight off the desire to play on your phone for so long before this film’s leisurely race against the clock gets to you.

The supernatural shenanigans and guardian angle elements should give this premise the fun pop it needs to earn that party status. Instead, these whimsical elements seem to cheapen what insists on being a heartfelt study of loss and learning.

The biggest mistake is leaning into a ticking clock that never feels pressing. It’s always assumed Cassie will pass her angel mission because this would become a very different film if she didn’t.

In doing so, this film misses the chance to fully embrace the more valuable clock between Cassie and her loved ones. All these afterlife gimmicks aren’t used as effectively as the ones on Julie and The Phantoms and end up taking away from the authenticity of Cassie’s situation.

Afterlife of the Party does succeed in telling a good story. But it struggles to keep its audience invested and that’s a shame because, with better pacing and a tighter grasp on its concept, this could have been something special.

There’s a lot to love about this film, it’s just not precise enough to be entirely enjoyable. With not nearly enough comedy or meaningful connections to the supernatural elements, it’s difficult to call this “supernatural comedy” successful.

It is however an insightful look at how grief can shape our lives at a time where we are all collectively dealing with loss. And despite this film’s desire to leave us a bawling mess, we do get a satisfying ending (if you haven’t watched The Good Place).

If you’re looking for a story that will tug at the heartstrings in unexpected ways, you might just find yourself embracing this film’s contemporary notes. But if you’re looking for a party, it’s not here.

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Afterlife of the Party is streaming now on Netflix.

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