Fox Searchlight Film Review - The Aftermath

World War II took the horrors of war to a new level. The fighting fierce, bombings intense and the level of suffering unprecedented. The victorious Allies dictated the terms but learning from the events after World War I did not want to be as harsh on the vanquished. It's in a devastated Hamburg where the story is set. British Colonel Lewis Morgan (Jason Clarke) leads the British forces in the city trying to determine who is a real threat and in his mind help these people to rebuild. To fellow Britain's he is too sympathetic to the German side, as for the Germans many are still staunch Hitler supporter sporting the number 88 on their wrists to symbolize an H for Hitler the 8th letter in the alphabet.

The army requisitions a house for the Colonel owned by architect Stefan Lubert (Alexander Skarsgard) a widower who lost his wife in the Allied bombings living there with his teenage daughter Freda (Flora Thiemann) who sees her dad as a coward as he did not join the Nazi party or sign up to fight to protect the Fatherland. Colonel Morgan brings his wife to town who has been grieving the death of their son who died during the German bombing of Britain 3 years earlier. The couples embrace lack passion, they fight over their different methods of grieving. It's not too long after The Colonel allows the Luberts to stay on at the house that Rachel finds happiness in the German widower's arms.

The Aftermath is a straight-ahead love triangle set against a wartime backdrop. The film, adapted from Rhidian Brooks novel flips between views on where it's sympathies lie. At one point seemingly  towards the Germans as they continue to dig bodies out from the rubble and are near the point of starvation. The British at times appearing to be not much better than their defeated enemies as they mock the starving masses and jeer at the uncovered corpses. Then it switches against the locals as they carry out attacks against the British in the name Hitler.

Keira Knightly who was very pregnant at the time of the filming  the heads the cast as Rachel. She was home when her son Michael died and feels that Lewis blames her for the death but is troubled that he continued to work as if nothing happened. Jason Clarke  represents the British Solider duty to the Crown above all doing his job leading the clean up of the city seeming to be soft but will show his teeth when pushed. Skarsgard's Lubert is curious almost too friendly to the couple that has displaced him in his home representing the military that took the life of his wife. Each of the leads have a few flashes where they shine contributing to making the film one enthusiast of the time period will enjoy.

**1/2 Out of 4

The Aftermath | James Kent | U.K. / Germany / U.S.A. | 2019 | 108 Minutes.

Tags: World War II, Hamburg, Battle of Britain, Bombings, Adolf Hitler, Nazi Party, Reconstruction, Requisition, Protests, Papers, Violent Attacks, River Elbe, Woolen Sweater. Cigarette Case.