''The Aftermath'' is a 2019

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

James Kent James Kent may refer to: *James Kent (jurist) (1763–1847), American jurist and legal scholar * James Kent (composer) (1700–1776), English composer *James Kent, better known as Perturbator, French electronic/synthwave musician *James Tyler Kent ...

and written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by

Rhidian Brook Rhidian Brook (born 1964) is a Welsh novelist, screenwriter and broadcaster. Biography Brook was born in Tenby in 1964. He attended Churcher's College in Hampshire, leaving in 1982. His first novel, ''The Testimony Of Taliesin Jones'' (HarperCol ...

. It stars

Keira Knightley Keira Christina Righton (; née Knightley, born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in both independent films and blockbusters, particularly period dramas, she has received several accolades, including nominations for ...

Alexander Skarsgård Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård (; born August 25, 1976) is a Swedish actor. Born in Stockholm, he began acting at age seven but quit at 13. After serving in the Swedish military, Skarsgård returned to acting and gained his first role in th ...

and

Jason Clarke Jason Clarke (born 17 July 1969) is an Australian actor. He has appeared in many TV series, and is known for playing Tommy Caffee on the television series '' Brotherhood''. He has also appeared in many films, often as an antagonist. His film r ...

. The film had its world premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival on 26 February 2019. It was released in the United States on 15 March 2019, by

Fox Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century St ...

. It is the last Fox Searchlight Pictures film to be released before the

acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney The acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney was announced on December 14, 2017, and was completed on March 20, 2019. Among other key assets, the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company included the 20th Century Fox film and ...

Plot

''The Aftermath'' is set in

British occupation zone The British occupation zone in Germany (German: ''Britische Besatzungszone Deutschlands'') was one of the Allied-occupied areas in Germany after World War II. The United Kingdom along with her Commonwealth were one of the three major Allied po ...

in post-war Germany in 1945. Rachael Morgan arrives in the ruins of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in the bitter German winter to be reunited with her husband Lewis Morgan, a colonel of British Forces Germany charged with rebuilding the shattered city and dealing with violent insurgent

Werwolf ''Werwolf'' (, German for "werewolf") was a Nazi plan which began development in 1944, to create a resistance force which would operate behind enemy lines as the Allies advanced through Germany, in parallel with the ''Wehrmacht'' fighting in ...

activities. The couple, whose relationship is tense due to their son Michael being killed during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

by German bombing, will be staying in the requisitioned house of German architect Stefan Lubert and his teenage daughter Freda Lubert. Lewis decides to let Stefan and Freda stay in the house in the attic, a decision that Rachael is initially unhappy with because of her resentment toward Germans over Michael's death. She is very rude to Stefan. Meanwhile, Freda connects with Bertie, a young German deeply involved in the Werwolf movement. However, Rachael bonds with Stefan over shared grief: Stefan's wife was killed by Allied bombing. Rachael and Stefan begin having an affair. The situation is complicated by British Forces Germany suspecting Stefan of Werwolf involvement, though it is actually Freda's boyfriend Bertie who is involved. Lewis eventually realises Rachael and Stefan are having an affair when he hears of her advocating on Stefan's behalf. When Lewis confronts Rachael, she tells him that she is leaving him to be with Stefan. Bertie tries to assassinate Lewis but instead kills Lewis' chauffeur by mistake. Bertie attempts to escape through the woods but falls through ice to his death. Lewis tells Rachael to leave the next morning. After Lewis admits his grief over Michael to Rachael, she hugs him. She accompanies Stefan and Freda to the railway station but decides to stay with Lewis instead of leaving with Stefan.

Cast

Production

In August 2016, it was announced

acquired the film, with

and

, James Kent directing it from a screenplay by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, while

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...

as a producer under his

Scott Free Productions Scott Free Productions is an independent film and television production company founded in 1970 by filmmakers and brothers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott. They formed the feature film development company Percy Main Productions in 1980, naming the ...

banner. That same month,

joined the cast of the film. In February 2017, Fionn O'Shea joined the cast.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began in January 2017, in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Home media

''The Aftermath'' was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 11 June 2019.

Reception

Box office

''The Aftermath'' has grossed $9.2 million worldwide.

Critical response

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, reported that of critics have given the film a positive review based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads, "Tasteful to a fault, ''The Aftermath'' is worth seeking out only for the most passionate period drama enthusiasts." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of 43 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aftermath Scott Free Productions films German drama films British drama films American drama films Films set in 1945 Films set in Hamburg Films shot in the Czech Republic English-language German films Films shot in Prague BBC Film films Fox Searchlight Pictures films Films directed by James Kent (director) 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s British films 2010s German films