Mark Reviews Movies: AFTER THE WEDDING (2019)

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Review by Mark Dujsik | August 8, 2019

After the Wedding begins as one story, about an American woman who runs an orphanage in Kolkata, where she has established a life devoted to caring for children who otherwise would have nothing and no one. Then, the film becomes another story, about that woman's decision to leave behind these children and her purpose, if only briefly, in order to make the case for a generous donation from a potential benefactor in New York City.

From this simple setup, writer/director Bart Freundlich's film, a remake of a 2006 Danish film by Susanne Bier, seems to be heading toward one conflict. Isabel (Michelle Williams), the woman visiting a world of excess and luxury, only sees waste, hollow promises, and wasted time in her trip, where the possible donor has set her up in a swanky suite of a hotel room—the cost of which could probably feed multiple children at her orphanage for months. When Theresa (Julianne Moore), the wealthy owner of a media company who seems less eager to fund the orphanage than Isabel was led to believe, invites Isabel to her daughter's wedding, there's even more of that disparity.

The dress Theresa arranges for Isabel instead could probably be put toward vaccinating several children for common diseases that are potentially fatal under their circumstances. The wedding itself, a big affair with all kinds of luxuries (Theresa makes sure that lobster is indeed on the menu, despite some debate that Isabel witnesses), likely could keep Isabel's orphanage running for a year.

Isabel is an idealist, with plenty of heart and good intentions but without the means to fully achieve what she wants for others. Theresa is, perhaps, a hypocrite, although that would suggest she wants to give the orphanage money because she actually cares about its work. Instead, Theresa is so disinterested and distracted that she doesn't even bother to watch a video showing the conditions in Kolkata and how Isabel's work is making things better for some children. With the wealthy woman's help, it could be more kids getting a chance to survive, so despite whatever she may think of Theresa, Isabel has to play along with all of this.

Those who have seen Bier's original film will know that all of this stuff about the orphanage and the donation becomes secondary to the heart of this tale, which takes a rather unexpected and seemingly coincidental turn as soon as Isabel gets a good look at one of the wedding attendees. Those who have seen that first film also will note that Freundlich has changed the gender of the story's two main characters. In the 2006 film, the Isabel character was a man, and so, too, was the Theresa character.

It might seem like an incidental detail and a trivial alteration, but considering what's revealed at the wedding and what the characters have to confront afterward, that change completely adjusts the dynamics of these characters. In some vital ways, those changes are, perhaps, for the better.

Essentially, after showing Isabel's skepticism and giving us a glimpse of Theresa's home life, the wedding, between Theresa's daughter Grace (Abby Quinn) and one of Theresa's employees Jonathan (Alex Esola), happens. Isabel recognizes Theresa's husband Oscar (Billy Crudup), an artist, and he, in turn, recognizes her. Shortly after, during a speech, Grace mentions that Theresa is not her biological mother.

Isabel arrives at the family's home the next day, and all is revealed. Those who don't and would prefer not to know that information are warned to skip the next paragraph.

Isabel and Oscar had dated. She became pregnant, and the two decided to give up the baby for adoption. Oscar changed his mind and briefly raised Grace on his own, before meeting and marrying Theresa. By that point, Isabel had disappeared. Life went on, and the past was either unknown or forgotten until now.

The rest of the story follows these four characters—Isabel, Theresa, Grace, and Oscar—as they deal with the truth and the ways in which their lives have been changed by the knowledge of it. They are now connected in deep, hopeful, and painful ways. The film doesn't sugarcoat that pain, but it also isn't cynical about the inherent optimism here. The conflict between Isabel and Theresa's ways of and outlooks on life become far more personal, but the connection between Isabel and Grace, as they try to get past whatever resentment or regret may exist between them, is portrayed with tender honesty. Oscar and Isabel, too, have to deal with their own resentments and regrets, while also knowing that they are essentially strangers to each other at this point.

We keep waiting for the fallout. We keep anticipating that something will erupt between Isabel and any one of these other characters—that the past will define her bond with Grace, that some old feelings will be reignited by her reunion with Oscar, that some anger will form in seeing Theresa as such a key component in Grace's life. We expect that something sinister will come from Theresa's demands in making a sizeable donation to the orphanage—that this reunion couldn't be coincidental and that there must be something she selfishly wants, which Isabel cannot give without substantial sacrifice.

To the film's significant credit, none of that comes to pass. It is, quite simply, a study of these characters, performed with emotional precision by the cast, as they do their best to adjust to this new reality of life, of family, of what could be, and of what will be for certain. After the Wedding is smart enough to know that these characters matter more to the drama of the situation than any forced and frivolous conflict.

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