With a title like that, I couldn’t help but think, “Man, is this a movie about whiny white kids who kill themselves over love?” My thought couldn’t have been any closer to what the film is about, only there is so much more to it. What sounds like a mundane drama ends up being a rather good film about the afterlife of suicide victims. It’s a bizarre road trip I found myself wanting to be apart of. Wait, I don’t mean I want to kill myself or anything, but this is a group of people I’d want to hang out with, despite their whining.

Zia (Patrick Fugit) cleans his apartment spotless, like so many countless suicide victims have done in the past. When everything is tidy, he grabs the razor and gets to slicing. Little did he know that the afterlife for quitters of life is just as gloomy as the real thing - maybe even more so. Zia finds himself living in a land where everyone has killed themselves in some way, shape, form. Everyone is dead but somehow trapped in this miserable world.

He gets himself a job at a local pizza place and befriends a Russian named Eugene (Shea Whigham), who killed himself on stage while performing with his band. They frequent a local bar and spend their time drinking and trying to figure out how certain patrons offed themselves. It is a weird world they find themselves in and while it is one that is bland and dreary, there is a certain amount of comic relief that happens when you see the interesting ways people end their lives.

Somewhat content, Zia goes about living in this place without worry, until the day he hears word that his ex-girlfriend in the real world may have killed herself too. So Zia and Eugene decide to go on a road trip in search for her. On the way, they pick up a hitchhiker, Mikal (Shannyn Sossamon), who claims she isn’t supposed to be there. She never actually killed herself. She is looking for the people in charge to clear her name and fix the error.

Based on a short story by Etgar Keret, entitled Kneller’s Happy Campers, the film provides a tangible landscape with a group of interesting characters. These are not people yearning to be felt sorry for. Instead, writer/director Goran Dukic shapes them to be a believable and entertaining troupe seeking happiness in all the wrong ways. Vanja Cernjul’s cinematography keeps the afterlife plain and colorless. You almost wonder why this alternate world wasn’t black and white at times. Still, the script provides plenty of humor throughout the way and never steers the film into an annoying romantic dramedy.

Tom Waits and Will Arnett are perfect in their respected supporting roles. Some of the film’s music comes from everyone’s favorite immigrant-gypsy-punk band, Golgol Bordello. In fact, it appears that Whigham’s character is partially based on Bordello’s lead singer, Eugene Hurtz. Wristcutters: A Love Story is like a suicidal Wizard of Oz. Each of these characters is out searching for something that may actually exist right in front of them.

Don’t let the awful artwork on the cover stop you from renting (or purchasing) this flick. It’s definitely worth a viewing, regardless of the special features on the disc.