Sundance Film Festival 2024 Review – Say Hi After You Die is a quirky, joyous celebration of genuine friendship that made me want to immediately call my bestie and tell them just how much they mean to me. Writer-director-actor Kate Hollowell plays Gloria, a woman who suddenly loses her very best friend Ruby (Ruby Caster) in a hilariously sudden accident. Just minutes before said accident, Gloria and Ruby flippantly chat about what they would come back as after they die. Ruby insists she would return as a porta-potty filled with all manner of disgusting things. Then the unthinkable happens.

Weeks after, Gloria is still, understandably a mess. A cake sits in her fridge with the trite message “Sorry for your loss” and offers little comfort. The one person that she could endlessly gab with, the one person who knew her authentically, was gone. Then, apropos of nothing, a construction crew appears near Gloria’s home at the end of the road.  Sitting squarely in the center of the road crew’s site is a bright blue porta-potty.

Gloria is curious about the strange coincidence and decides to investigate. Getting no clear answers from the construction workers as to what they are doing, Gloria begins going out after the workers are long gone to chat with what could very well be her deceased bestie trying to say hello from beyond.

What I found so disarming about Say Hi After You Die was the way it captured the relationship that best friends have. At the beginning of the film, it is clear that Gloria and Ruby can sit and chat endlessly about anything and simply love each other’s company. When that is taken away from Gloria it is interesting to see the hilarious ways that she refuses to let go of the connection that the two have.

Mind you writers Hollowell and Caster are far more interested in the goofy unspoken language in true friendship than they are in exploring loss. I suppose the whole point is that our loved ones never really leave. They are always there somehow whether it’s a random coyote sighting, a porta-potty, or a a lavish 80’s musical dream sequence. Just see it, you will get what I mean.

7 Out of 10