It's a Wonderful Afterlife

Gurinder Chadha has near-legendary status for her barnstorming popular classic Bend It Like Beckham – but this latest misses the goal. Doting Indian mum Mrs Sethi (Shabana Azmi) has furiously murdered all the people who have been nasty to her daughter Roopi (Goldy Notay), whom she has tried to marry off, and these victims come back as ghosts. All the potential for drama and comedy is sacrificed to this totteringly high concept. Sally ("Happy-Go-Lucky") Hawkins plays Roopi's best mate, and she is at the centre of a spoof of a well-known horror film that should have been a five-second visual gag but goes on and on for what seems like 30 minutes.