Review: Aftermath

Director: Peter Winther

Screenplay: Dakota Gorman and Peter Winther

Year: 2021

After an infidelity opened a painful crack in their marriage, Natalie and Kevin are a young married couple going through a difficult time. To give a fresh start to their marriage, the couple moves into a new house, in which they got a good deal. Like their marital problems, the house’s dark past will prove to be more challenging to overcome than expected.

A murder-suicide is the opening scene of "Aftermath" with which the writers Dakota Gorman and Peter Winther cloak the house with a dark aura. Then we meet Natalie (Ashley Greene; “Twilight”) and Kevin (Shawn Ashmore; “Frozen”), their marital problems, and how they seek to take advantage of the low price of the house after such a disastrous end for the former owners. It does not take a rocket scientist to anticipate that the history of the former owners will remain on the walls of the place and that it will play an important role in the plot. 

During the development of the plot, the writers seek to tie the events that occur in the house with supernatural events, which follow the standard clichés of haunted house movies. However, these supernatural events only serve to explore further Natalie and Kevin's relationship, which goes through many ups and downs, but the lows are stronger no matter how hard they both try not to. The marriage drama works much better, partly thanks to the great chemistry and good acting of the leads, to create suspense than the supernatural moments themselves.

As the events in the house unfold, we begin to suspect whether they really are supernatural and the quality of the script. As the plot thickens, more and more gaps are opening in the script and confusing situations that do not fit well with the previous information offered. Once the twists and turns come, these problems only intensify to a pointless and unreal ending. 

"Aftermath" is much more effective at creating suspense through marriage drama than with supernatural elements. The twists offer more questions than answers, and as the plot thickens, it becomes harder and harder to believe. It passes on average as a drama film with some suspense but fails miserably in its horror elements.