‘There’s nowhere to hide’
Aftermath is a 2023 sci-fi mystery horror film about a young woman who wakes up in a forest with no memories. She is then targeted by mysterious strangers with a motive as unclear as her way back home. The movie is a feature-length remake of the 2020 short of the same name.
Directed by Gergö Elekes and József Gallai (Project Skyquake; I Hear the Trees Whispering; The Whispering Man; Spirits in the Dark; Moth; A Guidebook to Killing Your Ex; Bodom) from a screenplay written by the latter with Derek C. Block.
The American-British-Hungarian movie stars Fruzsina Nagy, Edward Apeagyei, Sally Kirkland, Eric Roberts, James Duval and Péter Inoka.
Our review:
A woman named Kate (Fruzsina Nagy) drives down a road. We don’t know where she is driving to but we can tell that she’s driving quickly and she’s not in the mood for any delays. It’s the way that someone drives when they’re trying to escape but they’re not sure where they want to go. It’s the way you drive when you just want to convince yourself that you can somehow leave everything behind.
We hear what sounds like an accident and suddenly, Kate is waking up in a forest. Her car is nowhere to be seen and Kate has no idea how she came to be in the forest. She’s not even sure who she was before she woke up. She has no memories of her past life, beyond fleeting visions that don’t always seem to fit together. Eventually, she meets another apparent amnesiac, Bubba (Edward Apeagyei). Bubba wears a locket around his neck and there’s a picture of a woman in the locket but he doesn’t seem to be quite sure who she was.
Bubba and Kate are not alone in the forest. There are other wanderers and then there’s a group of men who appear to be soldiers, wearing crude uniforms and gas masks and carrying machine guns. (The sight of the soldiers, with their crude uniforms, brings to mind the horrific militias that often spring up in the aftermath of a war and attempt to seize power out of the chaos.) Receiving cryptic orders from their leader (Eric Roberts), the soldiers patrol the forest and execute anyone that they come across. Their leader repeatedly tells them that they have to track down and execute everyone because the future of the world depends upon it. Failure is not an option.
Aftermath deals with a very real fear. The idea of suddenly waking up and discovering that you have not only lost your identity but also control over your fate is at the heart of many horror stories and it’s also a reflection of the way many people feel about living in today’s world. One wrong word, thought, or move and you can find yourself exiled into both a real and metaphorical wilderness. When Kate wakes up with little memory of what the world was like before she ended up in that forest, she’s feeling what a lot of people have felt when they try to remember the world and their lives before the lockdowns of 2020 and all of the political and societal events that followed. We live in a world that seems to change from day to day and, as a result, everyone has had that moment when, like Kate, they’ve struggled to understand what’s happening. From the minute that Kate wakes up with the feeling that she has no control over what’s happening to her, she becomes an instantly relatable character. The audience not only wants to know what’s happening to her but they also want her to regain control of her fate. If Kate can regain control, then those watching in the audience can also regain control.
The film’s cinematography emphasizes both the grandeur and the ominous atmosphere of the forest, making it a place that manages to be beautiful and threatening at the same time and the deliberate pace builds up suspense as Kate tries to discover why she is in the forest. Fruzsina Nagy and Edward Apeagyei both give sympathetic and relatable performances as Kate and Bubba and the audience does care what happens to them. Aftermath is both an intriguing thriller and a meditation on life and love. Lisa Marie Bowman, guest reviewer via Through the Shattered Lens
Other reviews:
“Despite the best efforts of the cast, it can be a struggle to buy into the performances when there appears to be little feeling in the line deliveries. It does not help how the story feels as though it drags its feet until the obvious revelation arises about the apparently unconnected elements, although the stronger moments arrive when the story reveals itself as being about regrets and holding onto loved ones.” ★½ Nerdy
“Aftermath is an eerie closed-in experience, as the mist engulfs the trees, you and your mind, making you hold your breath as we see the struggle to stay alive. József Gallai really knows how to creep into the tiny corners of your mind. What is life? What is consciousness?” Road Rash
” …a powerful experience, a maze-like film that really leaves the viewer with only gradually more information as the lead character, so one is kept guessing really until the very end. And the movie’s rather intelligently structured to keep the audience at the edge of their seats. And a strong cast, very moody outdoors locations, and a directorial effort with an emphasis on tension and atmosphere…” Search My Trash
“Fans of the filmmakers and their previous films should still find Aftermath to their liking despite these issues. Fans of DIY films should also find it to their liking, although more mainstream viewers may find the low budget and familiar plotting to be an issue of its own.” ★★★½ Voices from the Balcony
For a TikTok review, the 4K trailer, profiles of more József Gallai movies and technical info please visit page 2
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