Arguably the greatest unanswerable question relates to whether or not we can expect life after death. Actually, a clear answer exists, but you can’t find out until you die, of course.

With 2016’s We Go On, we get a cinematic exploration of this subject. Miles Grissom (Clark Freeman) suffers from intense fear of death and the possibility he will simply no longer exist.

Desperate for answers, Miles runs a newspaper ad connected to this topic. He offers $30,000 to the first person who can clearly prove that life continues after we die.

Inevitably, this leads to a long parade of charlatans and con artists who seek the money. However, Miles meets a handful of folks who he believes may actually deliver the goods.

Given its subject matter, We Go On feels as though it could follow two potential paths. Either it could deliver a contemplative examination of its root questions or it could turn into a supernatural thriller.

To some degree, On covers both those bases. However, I think it more fully embraces that second category, as it tends to feel more Sixth Sense than serious attempt to consider the topics.

Which seems fine with me in theory. While I admit I’d prefer a version of this story that leans away from spooky chills and more toward rich drama, I see possibilities for the tale to turn exciting and feasibly cover both bases.

Although I compared it to Sixth Sense, On actually gives off a bit more of an X-Files vibe during its first half. As Miles investigates various claims, his skeptical mother Charlotte (Annette O’Toole) comes along for the ride as well.

With Charlotte as cynical Scully to Miles’ I-want-to-believe Mulder, the movie comes with potential intellectual charge. It leaves open the possibility of supernatural realms but balances these with a more real world grounding.

During the film’s second half, however, most of this goes out the window. Charlotte essentially vacates her role in the movie and it devolves into a fairly standard horror flick.

Again, I don’t object to stories of that sort, but On shifts gears a little too abruptly, and the choice to so strongly favor supernatural possibilities becomes a disappointment.

On seems most intriguing when it leaves open questions and acts as an investigation. Once it decides to throw its hat into one ring, it just feels like Yet Another Ghost Movie.

As noted, films of that sort can offer entertainment. On just feels like it relies on scares as a reflex more than anything else, as though those involved figured it’d be easier to sell a traditional horror movie rather than a more complex one.

We Go On remains professional at all times, and it never degenerates into a bad scarefest. However, after an intriguing start, it simply becomes too perfunctory to hit the mark.

We Go On appears in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a generally positive presentation.

Overall sharpness appeared good. Some wider shots tended to lean soft, but these remained in the minority.

I witnessed no signs of jagged edges or moiré effects, and the movie lacked edge haloes. Shot digitally, no source flaws materialized.

Colors leaned toward a dull mix of amber and green. These didn’t stand out as memorable but they suited the story and worked fine.

Blacks seemed deep and rich, while shadows offered fairly appealing delineation. Expect a largely satisfying image.

Similar thoughts greeted the movie’s generally involving DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. While much of the mix leaned toward general atmosphere, it managed to kick to life on occasion.

This manifested during the more overt “scare” moments as well as some related to planes or cars. Those opened up the soundscape in a pretty lively and engaging manner.

Audio quality worked fine, with speech that sounded distinctive and concise. Music offered appealing range and impact as well.

Effects demonstrated good accuracy and punch, with deep low-end as necessary. I thought this wound up as a pretty good soundtrack.

We find three separate audio commentaries alongside the film, the first of which comes from writer/director Andy Mitton. He delivers a running, screen-specific look at the film’s origins and influences, story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, music, and related topics.

At no point does Mitton make this an especially fascinating track, but he covers the appropriate bases. That means enough useful content to ensure the chat deserves a listen.

For the second commentary, we hear from VFX supervisor/director Jesse Holland. He brings us a running, screen-specific discussion of essentially the same topics Mitton examines, though we hear a little more about effects.

Though I wouldn’t call Holland’s commentary redundant, it does follow a lot of the same territory from Mitton’s piece. Mitton and Holland chatted together for the movie’s original Blu-ray release, and that format makes more sense because the two simply touch on too much of the same domains for the separate chats to prosper.

Finally, the third commentary comes from actors Clark Freeman and Annette O’Toole. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific chat about their characters, performances and experiences.

At times, the actors offer some decent memories. However, they don’t tend to tell us much.

I do think Freeman and O’Toole interact in a pleasant manner. Unfortunately, their commentary simply tells us little of us about the production.

Two trailers complete the disc. We get ads for We Go On and Yellowbrickroad.

Note that the 2024 Blu-ray touts a remastered version of We Go On. I believe this meant it updated visual effects mainly.

Thematically, We Go On offers intriguing possibilities. However, it sacrifices most of these in favor of cheap horror movie theatrics too much of the time. The Blu-ray comes with generally good picture and audio as well as three commentaries. I wanted to like the movie but thought it didn’t live up toits potential.