In the supernatural drama Hereafter, director and co-producer Clint Eastwood explores a subject we all fear: death.
'We don't know what's on the other side, but on this side it's final,' said the two-time Academy Award winner for Best Director. 'People have their beliefs about what's there or what's not there, but those are all hypotheticals. Nobody knows until you get there,' he added.
Hereafter begins with three separate storylines that will ultimately converge. Each of the three main characters encounter supernatural events that change their lives. Marie Lelay (Cecile de France), a journalist, is working in Thailand, where she has a near-death experience. In London, meanwhile, Jason, a school boy, is killed leaving his twin brother Marcus (both boys played by George and Frankie McLaren) searching for answers. In San Francisco, George Lonegan (Matt Damon), a psychic, receives a mysterious message.
'Death touches the three characters in this film in ways most people don't experience,' said co-producer Robert Lorenz. 'But, in one way or another, we can all relate to the core emotions of the story - love, loss, loneliness and connection.'
Screenwriter and co-executive producer Peter Morgan's inspiration for the script came after the death of a close friend. He began pondering issues of mortality, loss and self-discovery. 'He died so suddenly. So violently. It made no sense,' he said. 'We can be so close to somebody, know everything about them, share everything with them, and then they're gone and suddenly we know nothing. I wanted to write a story that asks some of those questions. There's kind of an epic quality to that search.'
Damon and Eastwood had worked together before on the biographical drama Invictus. Damon was elated about the prospect of a reunion with the 80-year-old Eastwood. Yet the project almost didn't happen.
