Opening

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—— Alyce Kills May 24

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Coming Soon

—— After Earth May 31
—— Now You See Me May 31
100% The Kings of Summer May 31
89% The East May 31

The Sweet Hereafter (1997)

tomatometer

100

Average Rating: 8.9/10
Reviews Counted: 54
Fresh: 54 | Rotten: 0

Director Atom Egoyan examines tragedy and its aftermath with intelligence and empathy.

100

Average Rating: 8.7/10
Critic Reviews: 17
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 0

Director Atom Egoyan examines tragedy and its aftermath with intelligence and empathy.

audience

84

liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 10,304

My Rating

Movie Info

Atom Egoyan's haunting adaptation of the Russell Banks novel The Sweet Hereafter was the Canadian filmmaker's most successful film to date, taking home a Special Grand Jury Prize at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival and scoring a pair of Academy Award nominations, including Best Director. Restructured to fit Egoyan's signature mosaic narrative style, the story concerns the cultural aftershocks which tear apart a small British Columbia town in the wake of a school-bus accident which leaves a number

R,

Drama

Atom Egoyan

May 26, 1998

Fine Line Features

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All Critics (62) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (55) | Rotten (0) | DVD (9)

A delicate and touching story.

November 6, 2002 Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Canadian writer-director Atom Egoyan's most ambitious work to date, The Sweet Hereafter is a rich, complex meditation on the impact of a terrible tragedy on a small town.

February 14, 2001 Full Review Source: Variety
Variety
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Though this is Egoyan's first adaptation, The Sweet Hereafter could serve as a model for how to do it right.

February 14, 2001 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
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As in Egoyan's Exotica and The Adjuster, past and present are intricately fused by the crisp editing, the mournful shadings of Mychael Danna's score and Paul Sarossy's austere wide-screen cinematography

January 1, 2000
Film.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

a new moral urgency seems to invigorate this film

January 1, 2000
Film.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Egoyan sways away from the obvious, eschewing easy tears for something more fiercely intelligent.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee
Sacramento Bee
Top Critic IconTop Critic

In its unsparing depiction of the loneliness and despair that afflicts the tragedy-wracked town of Sam Dent, The Sweet Hereafter is one of the coldest movies ever made.

August 3, 2012 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central
Film Freak Central

Cuts to the bone and stays there long after its end credits have finished rolling.

March 8, 2009 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com
TheMovieReport.com

...intelligent, stately paced film

January 29, 2005 Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Molds the past, present, and future into a tapestry of the cyclical nature of human suffering.

October 24, 2004 Full Review Source: Cinematic Reflections

Based on Russell Banks' tragic novel about a town grieving for 14 children killed in a bus crash, easily makes my list of top 1997 films.

July 1, 2004 Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

Visits the impossible contradictions of bereavement with clear-eyed compassion.

October 15, 2002 Full Review Source: Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati Enquirer

This isn't a "flick" or a "movie". This is a film.

August 4, 2002 Full Review
Supercala.com

A stirring portrait of a community struggling to heal in the wake of a crisis.

June 5, 2002 Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine
Boxoffice Magazine

Explores the ways in which a tragedy enhances rather than diminishes a town's sense of community.

March 1, 2002 Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | Comments (2)
Spirituality and Practice

Una obra exquisita.

August 31, 2001 Full Review Source: Cinenganos
Cinenganos

Audience Reviews for The Sweet Hereafter

A smart moral and sociological exploration, much more subtle than I've come to expect from Atom Egoyan, but I suppose I wanted more...it's pretty bland visually. It doesn't read low-budget by any means, but it sure as hell looks like it.
May 24, 2011
ceWEBrity

Super Reviewer

Quiet and solemn this work by Atom Egoyan is so beautiful and moving that I found myself gasping as the roots of a small town are ripped asunder by an unfortunate accident. Must see.
June 18, 2011
UniversalDreamer

Super Reviewer

    1. Dolores Driscoll: I wasn't driving anymore, the bus was like this huge wave about to break over us. Bear Otto, the Lampston kids, the Hamiltons, the Prescott, the teenage boys and girls from Bartlett Hill Rd, Pete, Suzy, Laura, Rick, Sean Walker, Nocole Burnell, Billy Ansel's twins, Jessica and Mason. All the children of my town.
    – Submitted by Pete H (12 months ago)
    1. Nicole Burnell: We're all citizens of a different town now. A place with its own special rules and its own special laws. A town of people living in the sweet hereafter. Where waters gushed and fruit trees grew, and flowers put forth a fairer hue, and everything was strange and new.
    – Submitted by Chad E (16 months ago)
    1. Mitchell Stephens: Something's happening that's taking our children away.
    – Submitted by Chris P (2 years ago)
    1. Mitchell Stephens: Well, enough rage and helplessness and your love turns to something else.
    – Submitted by Chris P (2 years ago)

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Latest News on The Sweet Hereafter

September 7, 2005:
Trailer Bulletin: Where the Truth Lies
From Atom Egoyan, director of "Exotica," "The Sweet Hereafter," and...

August 22, 2005:
Egoyan's "Truth" May Lie with an NC-17
ThinkFilm, distributor of the new Atom Egoyan film "Where the Truth Lies," plans to appeal...

Foreign Titles

  • Das süße Jenseits (DE)
  • De beaux lendemains (FR)
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