6 Movies Like Afterlife of the Party You Must See

A Stephen Herek (‘The Mighty Ducks’) directorial venture, ‘Afterlife of the Party’ is a supernatural comedy film that revolves around Cassie (Victoria Justice), who suddenly dies and goes to a place between heaven and hell. Val, her temporary guardian angel, tells her that if she wants to go up to heaven and become an angel, she must take care of her unfinished business on Earth, which involves helping her grieving father, traumatized best friend, and estranged mother. If you have watched the film and loved it, here is a list of movies with similar themes. You can watch most of these movies similar to ‘Afterlife of the Party’ on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime.

6. Ghost Town (2008)

Co-writer and director David Koepp’s comedy-drama film ‘Ghost Town’ tells the story of dentist Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais), a cynical and disillusioned man who gains the ability to communicate with ghosts after being clinically dead for seven minutes. As ghosts learn about his power, they start approaching Bertram to ask for his help to attend to their unfinished businesses. Bertram soon grows tired of this. A ghost named Frank (Greg Kinnear) then comes to him and offers to keep the other ghosts away in exchange for Bertram breaking the relationship between Frank’s wife and a man he claims is not right for her. Both ‘Ghost Town’ and ‘Afterlife of the Party’ deal with themes like regret, loss, and second chances.

5. The 6th Man (1997)

Randall Miller’s ‘The 6th Man’ is a sports film about brothers Kenny (Marlon Wayans) and Antoine (Kadeem Hardison), who have grown up playing basketball together. After graduating high school, they both start to play for the Huskies at the University of Washington. During a road game, Antoine has a heart attack and dies. However, he returns as a spirit to help the team and lets Kenny know that he is back because the latter didn’t want him to leave. Both ‘The 6th Man’ and ‘Afterlife of the Party’ focus on the strong connection between their respective pair of lead characters.

4. Heaven Can Wait (1978)

In Warren Beatty and Buck Henry’s ‘Heaven Can Wait,’ a backup quarterback named Joe Pendleton (Beatty) is accidentally killed by an angel referred to as The Escort. Refusing to accept his fate, Joe convinces the angels to give him the body of industrialist Leo Farnsworth, who just has been killed by his unfaithful wife and her lover. Like ‘Afterlife of the Party,’ ‘Heaven Can Wait’ offers a bureaucratic depiction of heaven.

3. Always (1989)

One of Steven Spielberg’s lesser-known works, ‘Always’ revolves around the risk-taking aerial firefighter Pete Sandich (Richard Dreyfuss), who dies in a crash after saving his best friend, Al Yackey (John Goodman). He then meets Hap (Audrey Hepburn), who informs Pete that he is dead and now must help others as he was helped by other spirits when he was alive. Like Cassie in ‘Afterlife of the Party,’ Pete struggles to deal with his death and must rise above his own sense of loss and pain.

2. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

Arguably the greatest Christmas film ever made, Frank Capra’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ follows George Bailey (James Stewart), a banker who improves the condition of his community at the expense of his own dreams. Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers) is his guardian angel, who is looking to earn his wings. It is Clarence who brings George back from absolute despair and helps him find his way back to hope and his family. Like Cassie and Val in ‘Afterlife of the Party,’ Clarence is seeking to be elevated to a higher tier of angels.

1. Ghost (1990)

Beyond the murder mystery and paranormal elements, ‘Ghost’ is a love story, perhaps the greatest love story told on the big screen. After banker Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) is murdered in what appears to be a mugging incident, he turns into a ghost and is trapped in the mortal world. With the help of Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg), a woman who claims to be a psychic, he sets out to find the truth about his death and protect the woman he loves. Like Cassie, Sam can’t go to heaven or hell until he solves his earthly issues.