close_game
close_game

Streaming now: Shows that view death as a little less grave

Jan 28, 2022 03:01 PM IST

From a shifty architect in a make-believe heaven to the ennui of a never-ending relationship, comedies are offering new takes on loss, grief, death and the after-life.

“What do you think happens when we die?” The Late Show host Stephen Colbert probably though he was being glib when he posed the question to his Zen-like guest Keanu Reeves in May 2019. The superstar had an unexpected response. “I know the ones who love us will miss us.”

The Good Place tracks absurd mix-ups and twisty conspiracy theories in a not-quite-heaven. PREMIUM
The Good Place tracks absurd mix-ups and twisty conspiracy theories in a not-quite-heaven.

We don’t know what Reeves has been watching. But pop culture has been tackling fundamental questions about death, dying, grief and what lies beyond in new ways. Sure, there are serious dramas (Sorry for Your Loss) and weepfests (This Is Us), even meta-sitcoms (WandaVision). But over the past few years, comedy has been helping buffer the blow. Take a look.

The Good Place (2016-2020)

Come for the comedy, stay for the ethical conundrums. The show follows Eleanor, who has died and woken up to find herself in The Good Place, a sort of sunny, sanitised, wholesome afterlife for the chosen few who lived a righteous life. Except, there’s been a mistake – Eleanor did nothing to deserve her new digs. She and three other residents gang up to figure out why they’re there, what’s really going on, and what Michael, the architect of the place, is hiding. Could Janet, the artificial assistant, have answers? All four seasons are streaming on Netflix.

After Life (2019-2022)

After Life is about a man who uses indifference to cloak grief, and the community that is trying to help him move on.
After Life is about a man who uses indifference to cloak grief, and the community that is trying to help him move on.

Why should anything matter if we’re all going to die? Ricky Gervais plays Tony, a reasonably nice guy, with a reasonably nice life, who loses his beloved Lisa to cancer. It doesn’t break him, it changes him. He now does and says what he likes, regardless of the consequences. It’s grief in the guise of what he calls his superpower (being a truth-teller). It’s up to friends, family – the whole town, really – to turn him back into the man he used to be. The third and final season was released on Netflix this month. What does it all mean? Will there be answers? Warning: There will be tears.

Upload (2020 –)

In Upload, a man has his consciousness uploaded into a digital after-life that’s controlled by his girlfriend.
In Upload, a man has his consciousness uploaded into a digital after-life that’s controlled by his girlfriend.

Nathan Brown is a 27-year-old coder, a party boy and a devoted boyfriend. After his self-driving car crashes, he is uploaded into a digital post-life. Lakeview, his new home, is pretty plush. But his girlfriend, still alive, is even more controlling now. He could jump into a torrent stream and commit virtucide. But wait, someone may have murdered him to begin with. Upload’s premise draws from the parallel lives we live virtually, the tricky nature of memory, and what ends with us when we pass on. S1 is streaming on Amazon Prime; S2 is in the works.

Forever (2018)

The series Forever explores the ennui of matrimony through the story of a couple forced to continue working on their relationship through eternity.
The series Forever explores the ennui of matrimony through the story of a couple forced to continue working on their relationship through eternity.

Even a happy marriage can sometimes feel a little stagnant. When a grieving widow chokes on a nut a year after her husband’s death and follows him into the afterlife, the reunion is bittersweet. Must they now live out banal togetherness for actual eternity? Haunting the living isn’t much of a thrill, neither is sucking energy out of people. In death, as in life, relationships take work. The eight-episode series stars Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen and is streaming on Amazon Prime.

Afterlife of the Party (2021)

Afterlife of the Party is a story of friendship, amends and resentments that outlast life.
Afterlife of the Party is a story of friendship, amends and resentments that outlast life.

They’ve been besties since childhood. Now all her friend wants to do is drag her to clubs when all she wants is to curl up at home. Cassie has a showdown with Lisa and flees a party, slips in her bathroom, and passes on. But she can’t get into heaven until she’s helped those left behind deal with their grief and move on – including Lisa. Corny in bits, it’s still an unusual look at how we cope with loss, and it’s comfortingly forgiving of the little resentments that pile up even after the person they are aimed at is gone. Streaming on Netflix.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

A sequel to the 1980s classics, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is about the horrors not of being dead but of being forgotten.
A sequel to the 1980s classics, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is about the horrors not of being dead but of being forgotten.

If you’re a fan of the 1984 and 1989 films, you’ll find that this sequel retains the spirit of the original. Set 30 years after the events of Ghostbusters II, it’s about two young siblings and a single mom in a crumbling farmhouse trying to figure out the source of local earthquakes and other strange phenomena. A long-dead granddad is involved and he was one of the original Ghostbusters. The tragedy is not being dead, but being forgotten (or, if you’re a ghost, ignored). Available on YouTube.

Catch your daily dose of Fashion, Taylor Swift, Health, Festivals, Travel, Relationship, Recipe and all the other Latest Lifestyle News on Hindustan Times Website and APPs.
See More
Catch your daily dose of Fashion, Taylor Swift, Health, Festivals, Travel, Relationship, Recipe and all the other Latest Lifestyle News on Hindustan Times Website and APPs.

For evolved readers seeking more than just news

Subscribe now to unlock this article and access exclusive content to stay ahead
E-paper | Expert Analysis & Opinion | Geopolitics | Sports | Games
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On