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 arrives in the ruins of Hamburg in the bitter winter, to be reunited with her husband Lewis, a colonel of the British Forces Germany charged with rebuilding the shattered city and dealing with violent Werwolf activities. But as they set off for their new home, Rachael is stunned to discover that Lewis has made an unexpected decision: they will be sharing the grand house with its previous owners, a German widower and his troubled daughter. In this charged atmosphere, enmity and grief give way to passion, sex and betrayal.

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."