Drake Doremus returns to romantic territory with "Next Life," a sliding-doors narrative that splits its focus between parallel universes. Emilia Clarke plays a 30-something Londoner caught between two versions of her life, with Edgar Ramírez and Jack Farthing anchoring the competing romantic paths.
The film follows Doremus' established formula from "Like Crazy," his 2011 Sundance breakout about long-distance love. Here, the writer-director explores what happens when a woman must choose between two possible futures, each with its own emotional stakes and consequences. The premise sits comfortably in the romantic fantasy space that audiences know well from "Sliding Doors" and similar narrative experiments.
Clarke carries the film through its dual-timeline structure, drawing on her experience with ensemble storytelling from "Game of Thrones" and more recent projects like "Terminator Genisys." Ramírez and Farthing provide contrasting romantic energies, though the film struggles to develop either relationship with genuine depth. Doremus' directorial style, marked by handheld intimacy and naturalistic dialogue, works better in theory than execution here. The concept becomes underbaked as it unfolds, prioritizing the visual ambition of parallel storytelling over actual character development.
The film exists in a crowded landscape of relationship dramas where streaming services have raised expectations for how this material plays out. Recent entries like "One Day" on Netflix and the theatrical run of "Passages" show audiences want either radical genre deconstruction or emotional honesty that "Next Life" doesn't quite achieve. Doremus' approach feels caught between indie sensibility and studio-adjacent ambitions, never fully committing to either.
Clarke's star power carries the film through its rougher moments, but even her screen presence cannot elevate underdeveloped