Afterschool

Name: Afterschool
Director: Antonio Campos
Released: 2008

Synopsis

A prep-school student accidentally films the drug-related deaths of two classmates, then is asked to put together a memorial video.

91
The A.V. Club
Afterschool wears its many influences on its sleeve, but it’s very much a movie of the moment. The passing of time and the evolution of technology may give it an expiration date, but more likely, Campos’ film stands to be an essential document of what it was like to be a young person in the late ’00s.
88
Miami Herald
Campos, a cinematic disciple of Stanley Kubrick and latter-period Gus Van Sant, opts to let the movie do the talking for him. The fact that this is a film of few words only adds to its hypnotic, relentless pull.
83
Entertainment Weekly
Campos (who was 24 when he made this jolting pic) captures the numbing psychic scramble that just might cause the YouTube generation to go morally haywire. Or become filmmakers.
70
The Hollywood Reporter
This is a sophisticated stylistic exercise too rarefied for wide audiences, but earmarked for critical kudos.
70
Village Voice
Afterschool, the almost frighteningly accomplished first feature made by Antonio Campos when he was 24, is high school as horror show.
63
New York Post
Though thin on story, the film shows poise and vision, using bleak cinema-realité techniques with chilling effect. Campos promises to be heard from again.
60
Empire
Compelling performances and some stand-out scenes but this lacks the cohesive language of "Elephant," for example.
40
Variety
Unsettles without illuminating, marred by narcotic pacing and a blank lead performance.