The Aftermath Review

When it comes to war people often think about the battles, covert operations or occupation. The Aftermath takes a different approach by looking at the personal impact of World War II.

In the winter of 1945 the British army has occupied the city of Hamburg and seized property from residents for army officers. This includes Colonel Lewis Morgan (Jason Clarke) and his wife Rachael (Keira Knightley) who take the house of Stefan Lubert (Alexander Skarsgård), a local architect. Lewis allows Stefan and his teenage daughter, Freda (Flora Thiemann) to stay, despite the tensions it causes in the house.

In the UK there has been a little trend of female-led wartime dramas. 2017 had the Gemma Arterton led Their Finest, 2018 saw The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which starred Lily James and of course 2019 has The Aftermath. All three were based on novels and had romantic storylines and both The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Aftermath were set straight after the war.

The Aftermath is a story about people struggling with grief.  Lewis and Rachael lost their son and Stefan and Freda lost their wife/mother. Despite the characters being hostile to each other the pairs were actually pretty similar. Both their losses were due to bombing raids and they shared a national traits of stoicism. Rachael and Freda harbour a hatred for their nation’s former adversary whilst Lewis and Stefan try to carry on despite their grief. All of them needed some sort of catharsis.

The characters and the actors were the best feature of the film. They were well rounded, characters whose viewpoints are perfectly understandable. Within the house there was tension and resentment because of the destroyed relationships between husband-and-wife and father-and-daughter. One of the most powerful scenes was when Rachael reveals how her son died and breaks down in tears.

Lewis was the most interesting character in the film. Despite what happened to his son he carries on with his duty and wants to improve the lives of the citizens. It was the only way for him to deal with his grief but at the cost of his marriage.

The Aftermath is a strong personal drama but when it looks at the wider context it falters. The biggest example of this involved a subplot where a cell of teenagers who were still loyal to the Nazis and Freda joins them. This subplot was undercooked and treated more as an afterthought because the film focused on its bigger stars. The subplot was properly more developed in the novel. The film also had an oddly anti-British stance. Early one Lewis states that more bombs were dropped on Hamburg than London during the war and as it progressed officers and soldiers mocked the dead. It would have been more fitting if the film was in the Soviet or French zones or after the Iraq War.

History buffs will be disappointed because of the film’s focus on grief and an affair. The Aftermath overlooked the more interesting aspects like the early attempts to rebuild Germany, the Denazification process and looking at people would have been loyal to the regime and how the fall of Nazi Germany affected them.

The Aftermath is an actor’s film, giving performers roles that they can sink their teeth into. Although there were some interesting ideas and themes they were underdeveloped and ends up making The Aftermath shallow.