Adapted from a 2006 Danish film, 2019’s After the Wedding introduces us to Isabel Anderson (Michelle Williams). She operates an orphanage in India.

That enterprise requires funding, and wealthy Theresa Young (Julianne Moore) indicates a willingness to donate to the charity. Before she signs the check, though, Theresa wants to meet Isabel in person.

Though this request annoys Isabel, she agrees to fly to the US, where she meets with Theresa the day before the wedding of her daughter Grace (Abby Quinn). As events progress, Isabel learns that Theresa boasts ulterior motives.

Without question, much of Wedding’s appeal comes from its cast. With Williams and Moore in tow, the film brings two highly regarded actors, and their presence adds marquee value to the enterprise.

Unfortunately, the cast can’t redeem this sudsy fare. Despite the talent involved, Wedding becomes basic soap opera material.

Soap opera material with pretensions involved, too. The movie delights in its heavy-handed contrast between the indulgent opulence of Theresa’s life and the poverty in India, and it tosses out plenty of groan-worthy symbolism at other times as well.

Even without these clunky elements, Wedding struggles because it simply lacks a compelling tale. It basically presents 100 minutes of dull character moments punctuated with 12 minutes of actual drama.

We get little depth here. The movie relies on its mix of plot twists to involve the audience, so it comes across less as a coherent story and more as a collection of narrative devices.

Much of the material stretches credulity. To avoid spoilers, I won’t mention the questionable leaps of logic, but lots of them exist, and they render an already iffy project even more difficult to take.

The overqualified cast does their best to elevate the material, and even with their thin parts, they add dimensionality to the project. They can’t redeem it, of course, but they manage to give the film a veneer of class and quality.

A good cast can’t overcome all the problems here, however. A fairly soppy melodrama, Wedding lacks the depth it needs to succeed.

After the Wedding appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Overall, this was a positive image.

On a smidgen of softness ever cropped up here, mainly in some low-light shots. Otherwise, the movie showed nice clarity and delineation.

Jagged edges and moiré effects failed to appear, and edge haloes remained absent. Print flaws also stayed away from this clean image.

In terms of palette, Wedding went with mix of teal and amber. Overall, the hues were fine for their visual choices.

Blacks showed good depth, while low-light shots boasted nice clarity. This was a solid “B+“ presentation.

As for the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it gave us competent sonics most of the time as well as a little pep on occasion. A drama like this didn’t need to boast a rock-em, sock-em mix, so the audio seemed acceptable.

Usually, the soundfield didn’t have a lot to do, so it concentrated on good stereo music and general ambience. Every once in a while, though, the mix came to life – in a moderate manner, at least.

This was especially true during India-based scenes or at the wedding. These didn’t dazzle, but they gave the mix reasonable breadth.

Audio quality was fine. Speech seemed natural and concise, without edginess or other concerns. Music appeared full, with reasonable definition.

Effects remained clear and accurate, with some pretty solid low-end response. This became a fairly satisfying track.

A featurette called Life After the Wedding spans 13 minutes, 29 seconds. It brings notes from writer/director Bart Freundlich, producers Joel B. Michaels and Harry Finkel, and actors Michelle Williams, Julianne Moore, Billy Crudup, and Abby Quinn.

“Life” examines the original film and its adaptation, story/characters, cast and performances. We get a few good notes here but most of “Life” sticks with the standard promotional fare.

The disc opens with ads for Pain and Glory, Maiden, David Crosby: Remember My Name, All Is True, The White Crow and Frankie. We also find the trailer for Wedding.

With two prominent actors at the fore, I hoped After the Wedding would bring an involving drama. Instead, it delivers a dull, superficial tale without much to maintain interest. The Blu-ray offers strong visuals, appropriate audio and minor bonus materials. Wedding wastes its talent.