{"id":1300,"date":"2026-06-06T05:05:46","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T05:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300"},"modified":"2026-06-06T05:05:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T05:05:46","slug":"next-life-review-emilia-clarke-leads-drake-doremus-underbaked-romantic-thought-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Next Life\u2019 Review: Emilia Clarke Leads Drake Doremus\u2019 Underbaked Romantic Thought Exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n

\n\tIvy Bettencourt (Emilia Clarke), the heroine of writer-director Drake Doremus\u2018 latest romantic navel-gazer, is a little bit of a mess.<\/p>\n

Read more Tonys: Apple TV, Backer of \u2018Schmigadoon!\u2019 on Screen and Stage, Poised to Become Fastest Streamer to an EGOT<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tWe know this because the first time we see her, she\u2019s oversleeping her alarm by so much that she barely makes her train \u2014 at which point she promptly spills coffee all over a handsome stranger, Edgar Ram\u00edrez\u2019s Diego. We also know this because one of the next times we see her, she\u2019s getting smashed at her goddaughter\u2019s christening, having just reconnected with Noah (Jack Farthing), the ex-boyfriend and ex-boss who\u2019d so recently broken her heart.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tNext Life\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n

\nThe Bottom Line<\/span>
\n<\/p>\n

\tPlenty of sugar but not enough flavor.
\n\t<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\nVenue:<\/strong> Tribeca Festival (Spotlight Narrative)
Cast:<\/strong> Emilia Clarke, Edgar Ram\u00edrez, Jack Farthing
Director-screenwriter:<\/strong> Drake Doremus
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1 hour 52 minutes\t\t\t<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tThis is a woman who doesn\u2019t quite know what she wants, what she\u2019s missing or how to find it. Premiering at Tribeca, Next Life<\/em> tries to embrace her in all that uncertainty, giving her two entire realities in which to try things out or make mistakes and try again. But this Sliding Doors<\/em>-style thought experiment is too tidy to provoke much feeling, rendering universal concepts like \u201cfate\u201d and \u201cpurpose\u201d and \u201clove\u201d into abstractions rather than the stuff of life.<\/p>\n

\n\tIvy\u2019s parallel realities branch at the point she enters the train, a few seconds later in one timeline than the other. In the first one, the coffee spill sparks an immediate flirtation with Diego, a jazz musician whose most strongly held principle is an antipathy to ever selling out. As it turns out, Ivy was a singer herself once, though she quit to pursue a more practical career in some undefined field that involves making phone calls and looking at spreadsheets.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn this timeline, Ivy gets seemingly everything she wants. She and Diego fall hard and fast for one another. She gets pregnant, and decides to keep it. She moves into his place, a giant exposed-brick studio that\u2019s overflowing with plants and art and cozy blankets but has no doors or walls at all, not even for the bathroom. (Okay, so maybe she doesn\u2019t get everything<\/em> she wants.) With his encouragement, she even looks into restarting her music career.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the other timeline, Ivy does not meet Diego on that train. Instead, she takes Noah back after his (frankly obnoxious) grand gesture of interrupting his own scripture reading at the christening to beg her for another chance. This Ivy also gets everything she wants, but they\u2019re different things. She rejoins Noah\u2019s company, crushing it at her weirdly unexplained job when they\u2019re not hooking up in the supply closet. She moves into his place, a sleek glass-and-steel affair with bathroom walls and everything. They get engaged, start IVF, rediscover a mutual passion for jazz records.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn both timelines, Doremus deploys a handheld camera for long close-ups that, along with Dan Romer\u2019s drippy score, suggest we\u2019re supposed to find all of this terribly moving and breathlessly intimate. But his visions of love feel too exactingly curated, veering between photogenic scenes of cuddling and dancing in the streets and prettily sad ones of fighting (seemingly out of nowhere) or weeping over bad news. Missing are mundane moments, idiosyncratic details and slow-moving changes that actually comprise a long-term relationship. Without them, Next Life<\/em> frequently plays like a dead-wife montage, or perhaps a for-your-consideration reel.<\/p>\n

Read more Run-A-Muck Pushes Into Short Stories With Sights Set on Adaptation<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tOn that front: As a showcase for its leading trio, Next Life<\/em> is flattering if not exactly revelatory. Ram\u00edrez gets to highlight his rugged sex appeal and a lovely singing voice as artsy Diego, while Farthing brings a welcome touch of sweetness to Noah the stuffy suit. And Clarke plays Ivy with enough laid-back charm (\u201cI\u2019m unemployed as well as single. A catch!\u201d she quips while jokingly flipping her hair) that it\u2019s easy to see why either might fall head over heels for her.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe problem is that upon closer examination, none of them quite feel like people. Take the contrast between their places (courtesy of production designer Elizabeth Mary Moore). Noah\u2019s is so impersonal, devoid of even a single tchotchke, that it looks less like a home than a corporate apartment for visiting execs. It tells us only what type<\/em> of guy he is (i.e., rich and kind of boring), not who he is as an individual. Diego\u2019s is ostensibly more eclectic, a riot of colors and textures cramming every square inch of floor space. But none of it feels unique to him, either. It might as well be a composite of Pinterest boards tagged \u201cbohemian studio apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn neither space is there any evidence at all of Ivy\u2019s presence \u2014 no changes to the decor or layout once she moves in, no shelves cleared to make room for her own keepsakes or gadgets, not even any inconsiderate messes being left in the kitchen. It\u2019s like she\u2019s a paper doll, being dropped first into one generic backdrop and then another without leaving any trace in either.<\/p>\n

\nNext Life<\/em> is slightly more interesting as a rumination on artistic passion than on romantic love. As Diego sees it, true artists create because they have to \u2014 \u201cbecause it\u2019s inevitable\u201d \u2014 and let nothing, not even personal insecurity or financial precarity, stop them. As Noah does, creation is an admirable pursuit if it makes one happy, but hardly an imperative for a fulfilling existence. The Ivies are in the middle, trying to figure out where her devotion to music fits in alongside her desires for kids, marriage or stability.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut as with Ivy\u2019s relationships, the film is too nonspecific to take the question anywhere interesting, much less meaningful. Ivy cares about music because the script has decided she does, not for any reason we can feel in our own bones \u2014 just as with her goals of becoming a mother, or advancing in her undefined office job, or anything else. Doremus\u2019 reflections on what makes a life well lived ought to feel universal and visceral, relevant as they are to every single human being who has ever existed. They might have hit harder, though, if the lives here felt truly lived at all.<\/p>\n

Read more Netflix Film Head Says Streamer Has \u201cAccepted\u201d They Won\u2019t Work With \u201cFilmmakers Who Still Want Theatrical\u201d Releases<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emilia Clarke leads Drake Doremus’ romance ‘Next Life’ alongside Edgar Ram\u00edrez and Jack Farthing, following a woman across two alternate realities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1149,1150,1151,1152,259,1037,1038],"class_list":["post-1300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-drake-doremus","tag-edgar-ramirez","tag-emilia-clarke","tag-jack-farthing","tag-tribeca","tag-tribeca-2026","tag-tribeca-film-festival"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Next Life\u2019 Review: Emilia Clarke Leads Drake Doremus\u2019 Underbaked Romantic Thought Exercise - US Property Moves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Next Life\u2019 Review: Emilia Clarke Leads Drake Doremus\u2019 Underbaked Romantic Thought Exercise - US Property Moves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Emilia Clarke leads Drake Doremus' romance 'Next Life' alongside Edgar Ram\u00edrez and Jack Farthing, following a woman across two alternate realities.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"US Property Moves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-06T05:05:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1300#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1300\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Next Life\u2019 Review: Emilia Clarke Leads Drake Doremus\u2019 Underbaked Romantic Thought Exercise\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-06T05:05:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1300\"},\"wordCount\":1102,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1300#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/19049546a7e33aca4e5de0032fb23c85.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Drake Doremus\",\"\u00c9dgar Ram\u00edrez\",\"Emilia Clarke\",\"Jack Farthing\",\"Tribeca\",\"Tribeca 2026\",\"Tribeca Film Festival\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1300#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1300\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1300\",\"name\":\"\u2018Next Life\u2019 Review: Emilia Clarke Leads Drake Doremus\u2019 Underbaked Romantic Thought Exercise - US Property Moves\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1300#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1300#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/19049546a7e33aca4e5de0032fb23c85.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-06T05:05:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1300#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1300\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1300#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/19049546a7e33aca4e5de0032fb23c85.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/19049546a7e33aca4e5de0032fb23c85.webp\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":810},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1300#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018Next Life\u2019 Review: Emilia Clarke Leads Drake Doremus\u2019 Underbaked Romantic Thought Exercise\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"US Property Moves\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Next Life\u2019 Review: Emilia Clarke Leads Drake Doremus\u2019 Underbaked Romantic Thought Exercise - US Property Moves","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Next Life\u2019 Review: Emilia Clarke Leads Drake Doremus\u2019 Underbaked Romantic Thought Exercise - US Property Moves","og_description":"Emilia Clarke leads Drake Doremus' romance 'Next Life' alongside Edgar Ram\u00edrez and Jack Farthing, following a woman across two alternate realities.","og_url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300","og_site_name":"US Property Moves","article_published_time":"2026-06-06T05:05:46+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c"},"headline":"\u2018Next Life\u2019 Review: Emilia Clarke Leads Drake Doremus\u2019 Underbaked Romantic Thought Exercise","datePublished":"2026-06-06T05:05:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300"},"wordCount":1102,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/19049546a7e33aca4e5de0032fb23c85.webp","keywords":["Drake Doremus","\u00c9dgar Ram\u00edrez","Emilia Clarke","Jack Farthing","Tribeca","Tribeca 2026","Tribeca Film Festival"],"articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300","url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300","name":"\u2018Next Life\u2019 Review: Emilia Clarke Leads Drake Doremus\u2019 Underbaked Romantic Thought Exercise - US Property Moves","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/19049546a7e33aca4e5de0032fb23c85.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-06T05:05:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/19049546a7e33aca4e5de0032fb23c85.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/19049546a7e33aca4e5de0032fb23c85.webp","width":1440,"height":810},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1300#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018Next Life\u2019 Review: Emilia Clarke Leads Drake Doremus\u2019 Underbaked Romantic Thought Exercise"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/","name":"US Property Moves","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/uspropertymoves.com"],"url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}