Taglines: In the aftermath of war, the last thing she expected to find was love.
The Aftermath is set in postwar Germany in 1945. Rachael Morgan arrives in the ruins of Hamburg 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 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 Stephen Lubert and his teenage daughter Freda Lubert. Lewis decides to let Stephen 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 Stephen. Meanwhile, Freda connects with Bertie who is a young German deeply involved in the Werwolf movement.
However, Rachael bonds with Stephen over shared grief: Stephen’s wife was killed by Allied bombing. Rachael and Stephen begin having an affair. The situation is complicated by British Forces Germany suspecting Stephen of Werwolf involvement, though it is actually Freda’s boyfriend Bertie who is involved. Lewis eventually realizes Rachael and Stephen are having an affair when he hears of her advocating on Stephen’s behalf.
When Lewis confronts Rachael, she tells him that she is leaving him to be with Stephen. Bertie tries to assassinate Lewis but instead kills Lewis’s 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 Stephen and Freda to the train station but decides to stay with Lewis instead of leaving with Stephen.
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, Martin Compston, Kate Phillips, Jannik Schümann, Fionn O’Shea, Flora Thiemann, Abigail Rice and Anna Katharina Schimrigk. 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.
The Aftermath (2019)
Directed by: James Kent
Starring: Keira Knightley, Alexander Skarsgård, Jason Clarke, Martin Compston, Kate Phillips, Jannik Schümann, Fionn O’Shea, Flora Thiemann, Abigail Rice, Anna Katharina Schimrigk
Screenplay by: Joe Shrapnel
Production Design by: Sonja Klaus
Cinematography by: Franz Lustig
Film Editing by: Beverley Mills
Costume Design by: Bojana Nikitovic
Set Decoration by: Monica Alberte, Anna Marieke Gerken
Art Direction by: Matthias Klemme, Jiri Matura, Lucienne Suren, Seth Turner
Music by: Martin Phipps
MPAA Rating: R for sexual content/nudity, and violence including some disturbing images.
Distributed by: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release Date: March 15, 2019
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