The Aftermath (2019 film)

The Aftermath is a 2019 drama film directed by James Kent and written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Rhidian Brook. It stars Keira Knightley, Alexander Skarsgård, Jason Clarke, and Alexander Scheer. The film was released in the United States on March 15, 2019, by Fox Searchlight Pictures. It had its world premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival on February 26, 2019.

Plot
The Aftermath is set in postwar Germany in 1946. Rachael Morgan arrives in the ruins of Hamburg in the bitter 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 activities. The couple, whose relationship is tense due to their son Michael being killed during the Blitz 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.

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 Stefan being suspected of Werwolf involvement, though it is actually Freda's boyfriend Bertie who is involved. Lewis eventually realizes 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 and Rachael's chauffeur by mistake. Bertie attempts to escape through the woods but falls through ice to his death. After Lewis admits his grief over Michael to Rachael, she decides to stay with Lewis instead of leaving with Stefan.

Cast

 * Keira Knightley as Rachael Morgan, Lewis’s wife
 * Alexander Skarsgård as Stefan Lubert
 * Jason Clarke as Colonel Lewis Morgan, Rachael’s husband
 * Fionn O'Shea as Major Barker
 * Kate Phillips as Susan
 * Martin Compston as Burnham
 * Alexander Scheer as Siegfried Leitmann
 * Anna Katharina Schimrigk as Heike

Production
In August 2016, it was announced Fox Searchlight Pictures acquired the film, with Alexander Skarsgård and Keira Knightley starring in the film, with James Kent directing the film from a screenplay by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, while Ridley Scott will serve as a producer on the film, under his Scott Free Productions banner. That same month, Jason Clarke joined the cast of the film. In February 2017, Fionn O'Shea joined the cast of the film.

Principal photography began in January 2017, in Prague, Czech Republic.

Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 28% based on 137 reviews, with an average rating of 4.96/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Tasteful to a fault, The Aftermath is worth seeking out only for the most passionate period drama enthusiasts." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 43 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."