Imagine, After Tomorrow

After Tomorrow, one of the short films I saw on the first night of Imagine Science Films Festival--is a gripping look at the experiences that flow inside the mind of a man with dementia. James is convinced that this elderly woman who seems to care for him is acting weird and unintelligible. Yet James is oblivious to the fact that he is the one who has lost touch with reality.

This film came as a surprise to me, and tragically relevant to my life because of the fact that my mother-in-law has just been diagnosed with dementia.

The film correctly portrayed the common symptoms, some of which i've personally glimpsed from my mother-in-law during the onset of the disease: loss of the sense of time, the faltering sense of direction, the inability to recognize family members, the paranoia, unresolved guilt, mood swings and bad temper, and recurring memories of yesterdays.

Before I saw this film, I never really understood that a person stricken w/ dementia is trapped inside his own world--one that is shrinking slowly into oblivion, melting away along with his soul. Now the film has truly made me imagine how it feels like to be a victim of Alzheimer's Disease. The mysterious woman named Helen has also shown me what it would be like to take care of someone with a mental sickness.

After Tomorrow has shown me that the strongest emotion of a person or the most powerful memory is the last fabric of the soul to fade away. This film has made me think that if ever I will be stricken with Alzheimer's Disease or Dementia, I want love to be the most powerful and the last traces of life that my beloved would feel from me--not bitterness, guilt or angst that is often associated with dementia.

The ending scene is truly inspiring. James whispers into Helen's ears "Tell my wife that I love her." And it made me hope and pray: if i were to melt away, let love be the last spark of my life.