Life After Death with Tyler Henry review: Illustrating clairvoyance as a superpower, Netflix series is questionable and tiresome

1.5/5

Story:

Tyler Henry is one of the world’s most well-known clairvoyants, a medium to the stars who has given readings to countless celebrities and even has a show of his own. In Life After Death with Tyler Henry, the celebrity clairvoyant demonstrates his psychic abilities by giving readings to ordinary people who are coping with grief and losses of their own. Through the course of the show, Henry also has a personal goal in mind - to uncover a mystery about his mother’s troubled past.

Review:

Netflix is not one to shy away from putting out controversial content. In its latest unscripted television series, the streaming giant chooses to invite people into the world of a celebrity ‘medium’ or clairvoyant, Tyler Henry. Although he has an impressive track record with a host of Hollywood’s who’s who having availed his services, Henry decides to go on a much ‘nobler’ quest in the show, by providing reasons to ordinary people who are on a long waiting list to see him. And thus begins his heroic journey of trying to comfort people who have lost loved ones, by contacting the deceased to provide the grieving family closure.

Getting into the series, it might be an obvious thing to say that Life After Death with Tyler Henry is something people should watch with an open mind. But it seems that even if one leaves skepticism at the door, the series has very little to hold onto one’s attention, even with the unusual subject it deals with.

Right from the very beginning, the series establishes the tone it will take, and it sticks to it with unrelenting fervour. It does not take an objective point of view when it comes to Henry’s ‘gift’ and there is no room for questioning at all, which comes as a surprise since one of the genres, it is listed under, is ‘documentary’. And audiences are expected to go along with it without an iota of doubt.

The series definitely leaves no stone unturned when trying to depict Henry as a modern-day saviour. He is completely devoted to his cause of ‘helping’ people and their loved ones, no matter how much the cost. And he does it for nothing but the feeling of helping his fellow beings out. The show also makes a point to show how much Henry himself has to go through in his ‘noble’ pursuit, as not only are the readings shown to be emotionally taxing, but physically as well.

For audiences uninitiated, with the world of mediums and clairvoyance, the series had more than enough opportunities to lure them with the inherent mysticism that the subject provides. But what viewers are offered is nothing short of what feels like the world’s grimmest guessing game. Henry’s attempts at trying to decipher the cause of death of someone’s loved one come off as unnecessarily insensitive at times and all so that he could prove he’s ‘the real deal’. And of course, for anyone doubting the medium’s validity, the series shows you that his services are even availed by a private investigator to solve murder cases.

As the series progresses, it starts to feel more and more formulaic as Henry’s readings start to take on a pattern and at some points, it even feels like some of his clients are humouring him. The attempts of depicting some poignant moments between the medium and real grieving people even feel hollow.

And spoiler alert, the investigation into Henry’s mother’s past also reaches a dead end. The whole process fails to come off interesting even though they tried to add another medium to the mix. From start to finish, the series does not do a good job at delivering on what was promised.

Verdict:

Life After Death with Tyler Henry is through and through a series to showcase Henry as the hero of the masses who comforts people in need. Even for actual believers in clairvoyance, Henry’s depiction can quickly become tiresome and the series offers very little to keep viewers interested.