Aftermath (2017 film)

Aftermath (originally titled 478) is a 2017 American drama thriller film directed by Elliott Lester and written by Javier Gullón. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Scoot McNairy, Maggie Grace, and Martin Donovan. The film was released on April 7, 2017 by Lionsgate Premiere. The film is based on the July 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision though the names, places, and incidents were changed.

Plot
Roman Melnyk, a construction worker, is allowed to leave work early, for the arrival of his wife and pregnant daughter, Olena and Nadiya, from New York City aboard AX 112. At the airport to welcome his family, Roman receives the news that AX 112, with his wife and daughter on board, had been in an accident. From this point, Roman is devastated and blames the air traffic controller for the deaths of his family.

Meanwhile, in another angle of the story, Jacob "Jake" Bonanos, an air traffic controller, is happily married to a woman named Christina with whom he has a young son named Samuel. Jake is now also devastated, after seeing AX 112 and the other flight, DH 616, disappear from the radar, showing that the two planes collided and were destroyed. Although the investigators cannot hold Jake responsible for the deaths of the passengers, he blames himself. However, as time passes, he slowly unravels, straining the relationship with his family, and is unwilling to talk about what happened.

It is reported that all 271 passengers and crew were killed in the mid-air collision. Roman goes to the crash site and, posing as a normal volunteer, he recovers his daughter's necklace and the bodies of his wife and daughter. At his home, Roman stays hidden inside, when Tessa Gorbett, a journalist, approaches, expressing interest in writing a book on the incident. She ends up leaving behind some prior articles of plane disasters she had written about (to show her credentials as a serious journalist) through the mail slot of the door.

Because of the seriousness of the incident, the lawyer advises Jake to move to another state and adopt a new name for the safety of himself and of his family. Roman meets lawyers John and James Gullick to sign an agreement stating that the airport companies will pay for the expenses and damages to his family. Roman refuses to sign it as neither the company nor the lawyers express apologies for the loss of his family.

One year later, Roman and the families of the crash victims attend an inauguration of the newly completed memorial at the crash site. Jake, having moved to another site, now works at a travel agency, under the name "Pat Dealbert" and lives alone. Roman has also moved on to another town and now works as a carpenter. Roman meets Tessa and asks her, as a favor, to find Jake. Tessa later reveals Jake's cover name and occupation but she initially refuses to give his address. Roman tracks down the building where Jake is working and follows him to his apartment. There, after waiting a day, on a day when Christina and Samuel happen to be visiting Jake for the weekend, Roman confronts him at his door. Jake refuses to offer an apology, so Roman stabs Jake in the neck. Jake falls to the floor and bleeds to death while Christina and Samuel sob uncontrollably.

Roman is convicted of murder and serves a 10-year prison term, then is released on four months' parole. He visits his family's grave where he meets a stranger. The stranger turns out to be a now-grown Samuel, who has tracked Roman down with the intention of killing him to avenge his father's murder. However, Samuel cannot bring himself to kill Roman since it's not what he was taught. Samuel accepts Roman's apology and allows him to leave.

Cast

 * Arnold Schwarzenegger as Roman Melnyk (based on Vitaly Kaloyev)
 * Scoot McNairy as Jacob "Jake" Bonanos (based on Peter Nielsen)
 * Maggie Grace as Christina
 * Martin Donovan as Robert
 * Judah Nelson as Samuel
 * Hannah Ware as Tessa
 * Mariana Klaveno as Eve Sanders
 * Kevin Zegers as John Gullick
 * Larry Sullivan as James Gullick
 * Teri Clark Linden as Airline Supervisor
 * Lewis Pullman as older Samuel

Production
On June 23, 2015, it was announced that Arnold Schwarzenegger would star in Javier Gullón's action drama script 478, which would be produced by Darren Aronofsky's Protozoa Pictures. On November 4, 2015, Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films (EFOF) came on board to finance and produce the film along with Protozoa, which Elliott Lester would direct. Lionsgate Premiere would release the film domestically, which would be produced by Protozoa's Aronofsky, Scott Franklin and Eric Watson, and EFOF's Randall Emmett and George Furla, along with Peter Dealbert. In November 2015, Highland Film Group sold the film to different international distributors at the American Film Market. On December 24, 2015, Mariana Klaveno was cast in the film to play Eve Sanders, an airline representative who breaks the news to Roman (played by Schwarzenegger) of his tragic loss.

Filming
Principal photography on the film began on December 14, 2015, in Columbus, Ohio, previously scheduled to begin on December 6. The film was expected to wrap up in mid-January 2016.

Release
The film was released on April 7, 2017.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 41% based on 49 reviews, with an average score of 5.2/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 44 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Reception
Vitaly Kaloyev, upon whose recollection of the actual events the film is based, criticized the film because of some "distortions". According to Kaloyev, unlike the main character of the film, he did not try to seek anybody's pity or apology, but only wanted to achieve justice. In addition, he stated that the real air traffic controller, Nielsen, unlike the air traffic controller portrayed in the film, showed no signs of remorse, but on the contrary, behaved with arrogance and contempt.