The Aftermath movie review

posted in: Drama, Romance, War | 0

MOVIE TITLE:   The Aftermath (2019)              On Disc & Streaming June 25, 2019

RATING:  R 

LENGTH: 1 hour, 48 minutes 

Movie Review Mom GRADE:  B-

 

IN A NUTSHELL:  In the aftermath of World War II, an English military man and his wife share a large manor with a German widow and his daughter in devastated Hamburg.  Directed by James Kent, this historical melodrama is based on a novel by Rhidian Brook.   

 

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

  • Some German is spoken with and without subtitles.
  • Two sex scenes with a man’s naked buns and a topless woman.
  • Some profanity, including F-bombs.
  • You see a picture of Holocaust victims.
  • Several people die with images of blood.

 

THEMES:

  • Redemption, forgiveness
  • Betrayal
  • Love, lust
  • Judging others
  • Loss, grief

THINGS I LIKED:

  • Stunning aerial visuals in the very beginning.
  • It looks and feels like you have traveled back in time to a heartbreaking period of history. The sets are amazing and look truly authentic.
  • Keira Knightley has the luxury of playing a beautiful woman with lovely clothes in need of a forbidden romance. She used a body double for the nude scenes.  She and Jason Clarke played husband and wife before in the movie Everest.
  • The clash of emotional wounds that each of the characters carries is interesting.  Aren’t we all just wounded souls trying to find love?
  • We usually see movies that highlight the war, but not very many that explore what happened to the military leaders, their families, and the everyday people.
  • The music was beautiful.
  • I was surprised by the ending.  It didn’t seem to make much sense for the characters, but I liked that it surprised me.
  • I’ve read a lot of reviews by critics and by “regular” audience members and thought it was interesting that so many criticized the film for trying to be two films: war/history and romance, saying a movie can’t do both.  I disagree, look at THE SOUND OF MUSIC as an example.  It was three movies in one: war/history, romance, and musical!

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

  • I really hate adultery.  No marriage is perfect, but adultery won’t solve any problems.  The movie is well done, but I just hate watching people do stupid, selfish things. The lust factor was extremely high with no flirting or romance or substance leading up to…
  • Maybe if the father spent more time helping his daughter instead of schtooping someone else’s wife, the daughter could have healed faster and made better decisions.
  • There are a lot of clichés from every other period romance drama you’ve ever seen.
  • It evolves slowly.  I noticed that some reviewers said, “Nothing really happens.”
  • SPOILER:  We’re supposed to believe that Stefan Lupert is such a respectable man, but he lacked some serious integrity.

 

FUNNY LINES:

  • None.  This is a very serious drama.

 

INTERESTING LINES:

  • “This isn’t how it was supposed to be.”  – Rachael Morgan (Keira Knightley)

“None of this is how it was supposed to be, yet here we are.” –  Lewis Morgan  (Jason Clarke)

  • “Do you really need a philosophy to make something comfortable?” –  Rachael

“Behind every object there is a philosophy, isn’t it?” – Stefan Lupert  (Alexander Skarsgard)

  • “I don’t think you can judge a person by his answers to a questionnaire.” –  Lewis    “How do you judge him?” – Captain Thompson (Joseph Arkley)           “You look him in the eye.” – Lewis
  • “This is the zero hour.  Everything can start again.” – Stefan Lupert
  • “It’s not the war that makes men of us.” –  Lewis Morgan

 

OTHER MOVIES LIKE THIS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:

The Book Thief

The English Patient

 

WATCH THE Movie Review Mom YOUTUBE REVIEW WITH THIS LINK:

 

@TrinaBoice

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Author, university professor

Author of 23 books, university professor, mom of 4 awesome sons, movie critic, ice cream lover. Check out her world travels and tips at www.EmptyNestTravelHacker.com

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