Post-apocalyptic worlds will always provide filmmakers with inspiration. Whether it is the disease ravaged society in Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later or the dystopian imaginings of Terry Gilliam it is a subject that offers vast and varied potential and it is a sub-genre that director Peter Engert has entered into with his new film Aftermath.
Focussing on a group of relative strangers who are thrown together in the midst of a fast developing nuclear war, Engert’s film delves into the complex and fraught relationships that develop in the subsequent days. Led somewhat fortuitously by the idealistic Hunter (C. J. Thomason) the group repeatedly becomes fractured as their farmhouse comes under regular and desperate attack from radiation infected refugees from the war and gradually their situation becomes more and more futile.
There is an intense and unrelenting bleakness to Engert’s film that takes hold of you from the very beginning and doesn’t let go until the final credits roll. This is not a film of redemption and salvation, where heroes rise and a rag tag group of survivors is led into a bold new future. Aftermath is an examination of dwindling hope, of the slow and painful realisation that there is no happy ending, and maybe, just maybe what future there is will not be one worth living in.
This descent into darkness though is both the films strength and also its weakness. It must be to the forefront in most actors’ minds that intense drama provides more scope for tapping into their thespian well than most genres and to that end Aftermath gives all involved the chance to flex their well rehearsed muscles. There are good performances from Jessie Rusu, Monica Keena and Ross Britz but real credit must go to Edward Furlong who provides the real thorn in Thomason’s side.
Too often recently Furlong has performed well in bland and deeply uninteresting films and it is refreshing to see him deliver in what is a difficult role as both internal antagonist and survivalist ally. The issues arise in the balance of developing so many characters while retaining slow building dramatic tension and not compromising on artistically lingering camera work. Engert has attempted to combine both but sadly hasn’t quite pulled it off. In doing so you never really invest emotionally in any of the key players and subsequently when people do inevitably die there is no proverbial pulling on the heart strings. This leads to a slowly growing distance between the audience and the film and as a result many of the beats miss their mark.
OVERALL SUMMARY
In many ways Aftermath is a good film but it just doesn’t quite deliver on its initial idea or early promise. Engert has shown a genuine grasp for the subject and has created a world that is as believable as it is nightmarish. Unfortunately there are one or two elements that are missing in order to elevate Aftermath above the average but it is still an interesting piece of work worthy of your time.
