While Keira Knightley and cast give off some elegant looks, this post-WWII costume drama floats passively along the surface of its subject.
In her predilection for period pieces, Keira Knightley has actually done a pretty impressive job diversifying her costume drama résumé across countries and centuries—from a Russian countess in the 1870s to a French novelist in the 1900s to a plucky member of the English landed gentry in the 1790s to several films set against the milieu of the Second World War. In The Aftermath she adds a new country and (at least by a matter of several crucial months) a new era to the list. The film is set in postwar Germany in 1945, five months after Allied victory there. More specifically, it’s set in Hamburg, a city devastated by Allied air raids and subsequently handed over to Britain as part of the Allies’ division of Germany into four occupied zones. It’s an intriguing new lens on a war that has been well explored in cinema.
In practice, however, The Aftermath’s story of simmering sexual tension and lustful outbursts unfolding in a glamorous manor feels an awful lot like Knightley’s WWII-adjacent drama Atonement. And the masterful tonal construction of the latter doesn’t do the former many favors. The Aftermath is an elegant looking movie that’s inelegant in its control of tension and tone.
Knightley stars as Rachael Morgan, a stoically brittle British woman who journeys to Hamburg to join her military husband Lewis (Jason Clarke), who’s been put in charge of rebuilding the city. Having lived through the Blitz, Rachael has nothing but contempt for the entire German nation and all of its inhabitants. Lewis, meanwhile, is steeped in the moral shades of grey of war. While his military colleagues work to brutally stamp out any festering Nazi sentiments among the locals, Lewis is sympathetic to the everyday Germans who now live in the squalor of refugee camps when they’re not working to dig up the unaccounted bodies of the more than 40,000 people killed in the air raids.
After he and Rachael move into a requisitioned manor, Lewis argues the moral thing to do is to let the German owners stay on in the attic, rather than kicking them out of the house entirely. Thus, Adonic architect Stefan Lubert (Alexander Skarsgård) and his prickly teenage daughter Freda (Flora Thiemann) become uneasy roommates to the Lewises, much to Rachael’s chagrin. Soon, however, her icy tension with Stefan grows into something more much fiery.
The Aftermath is an elegant looking movie that’s inelegant in its control of tension and tone.
On paper, there’s so much about The Aftermath that should work. The film links the question of how we process trauma on a societal level to how we process it on a personal one. London and Hamburg are two cities linked by their experiences with destructive air raids, just as Rachael and Stefan are two people linked by personal loss. His wife was killed in a bombing as was her young son Michael, whose death caused an emotional rift in her marriage to Lewis. In practice, however, the film never quite finds the spark it needs to bring those complex connections to life.
Early on, The Aftermath raises potent questions of complacency and complicity. Stefan was never an official member of the Nazi party, yet his home, like all stately German homes, bears an outline on the wall from where his portrait of Hitler once hung. Unfortunately, those intriguingly thorny ideas are soon dropped in favor of a love triangle that never gets the emotional depth it deserves either. A metaphor involving a piano is clunkier than the classical music that gets plunked out on it.
Director James Kent has created a film about subtleties and subtext that’s lacking in both, which is where the comparisons to Atonement hurt it the most. Adapting Rhidian Brook’s 2013 novel of the same name, screenwriters Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse keep their characters too surface, particularly in a clumsy subplot involving Freda’s romance with a teen Nazi fugitive. In how quickly Rachael and Stefan jump from hatred to passion, it seems more like the characters are moving through the preordained motions of a love triangle than living complexly fraught lives. An effective ending reveals The Aftermath was intended to have more emotional complexities bubbling beneath the surface than is always apparent during the film itself.
In the end, however, The Aftermath succeeds mostly at delivering erotic thrills and the pleasure of watching Knightley and Skarsgård wear the hell out of some gorgeous 1940s fashion. That’s not for nothing. It just feels like a film about grief, trauma, war, and Nazism should have more to say.
Read next: The Spool's Best New Releases
Streaming guides
The Best Live TV Streaming Services With Free Trial
The praises of live TV streaming services don’t need to be further sung. By now, we all know that compared to clunky, commitment-heavy cable, live TV is cheaper and much easier to manage. But just in case you’re still on the fence about jumping over to the other side, or if you’re just unhappy with ... The Best Live TV Streaming Services With Free Trial
How to Watch Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 3
Season 3 of the hotly anticipated Power spin-off, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, is arriving on Starz soon, so you know what that means: it’s the ’90s again in The Southside, and we’re back with the Thomas family as they navigate the ins and outs of the criminal underworld they’re helping build. Mekai Curtis is ... How to Watch Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 3
How to Watch Doctor Who: 60th Anniversary Specials
Ladies and gentlemen, we’re so back! To celebrate Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, the BBC is producing a three-episode special starring none other than the Tenth/Fourteenth Doctor himself, David Tennant. And to the supreme delight of fans (that would be me, dear reader), the Doctor will be joined by old-time companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and ... How to Watch Doctor Who: 60th Anniversary Specials
Which Netflix Country has Interstellar?
Maybe you’ve just seen Oppenheimer and have the strongest urge to marathon—or more fun yet, rank!—all of Christopher Nolan’s films. Or maybe you’re one of the few who haven’t seen Interstellar yet. If you are, then you should change that immediately; the dystopian epic is one of Nolan’s best, and with that incredible twist in ... Which Netflix Country has Interstellar?
Which Netflix Country Has Each Movie of The Hunger Games?
For whatever reason, The Hunger Games series isn’t available in the same countries around the world. You’ll find the first and second (aka the best) installments in Hong Kong, for instance, but not the third and fourth. It’s a frustrating dilemma, especially if you don’t even have a single entry in your region, which is ... Which Netflix Country Has Each Movie of The Hunger Games?
How to Watch ESPN With A Free Trial
One of the major concerns people have before cutting the cord is potentially losing access to live sports. But the great thing about live TV streaming services is that you never lose that access. Minus the contracts and complications of cable, these streaming services connect you to a host of live channels, including ESPN. So ... How to Watch ESPN With A Free Trial
How to Watch Paramount Network With a Free Trial
To date, Paramount Network has only two original shows on air right now: Yellowstone and Bar Rescue. The network seems to have its hands full with on-demand streaming service Paramount+, which is constantly stacked with a fresh supply of new shows. But Yellowstone and Bar Rescue are so sturdy and expansive that the network doesn’t ... How to Watch Paramount Network With a Free Trial
How to Watch WE TV With a Free Trial
Previously “Women’s Entertainment,” We TV has since rebranded to accurately reflect its name and be a more inclusive lifestyle channel. It’s home to addictive reality gems like Bold and Bougie, Bridezillas, Marriage Boot Camp, and The Untold Stories of Hip Hop. And when it’s not airing original titles, it has on syndicated shows like 9-1-1, ... How to Watch WE TV With a Free Trial
How to Watch TNT Sports With A Free Trial
For many sports fans, TNT is a non-negotiable. It broadcasts NBA, MLB, NHL, college basketball, and All Elite Wrestling matches. And, as a bonus, it also has reruns of shows like Supernatural, Charmed, and NCIS, as well as films like The Avengers, Dune, and Justice League. But while TNT used to be a cable staple, ... How to Watch TNT Sports With A Free Trial
How to Watch Comedy Central With a Free Trial
It’s no coincidence that many of today’s biggest comedians found their footing on Comedy Central: the channel is a bastion of emerging comic talents. It served as a playground for people like Nathan Fielder (Fielder For You), Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson (Broad City), Tim Robinson (Detroiters), and Dave Chappelle (Chappelle’s Show) before they shot ... How to Watch Comedy Central With a Free Trial
How to Watch FX With a Free Trial
You’d be hard-pressed to find a bad show airing on FX. The channel has made a name for itself as a bastion of high-brow TV, along with HBO and AMC. It’s produced shows like Atlanta, Fargo, The Americans, Archer, and more recently, Shogun. But because it’s owned by Disney, it still airs several blockbusters in ... How to Watch FX With a Free Trial