Aftermath - A Netflix Movie Review

At least it’s a good thing we know that murders happened in this house, right?

Aftermath was released to Netflix in 2021. Struggling to repair their marriage, a couple moves into a house with a dark past. Odd situations happen inside this house. Due to the situation, Natalie and Kevin argue. Will they work together or get split apart?

Aftermath does something different compared to the rest of the haunted house genre. Instead of being unaware of the terrors until the last minute, the couple is fully aware that they are moving into a house with a dark past. Aftermath could have been a better film if it didn’t derail into a nonsensical story.

Ashley Greene and Shawn Ashmore did a great job hashing out the dynamic of a difficult relationship. It’s their characters that deserved more fleshing out. Greene was superb as Natalie, always standing her ground and never letting anyone tell her that she was wrong.

Most of the film involves a lot of arguing between Natalie and Kevin, testing their relationship. A lot of arguing. However, they do make a good point. You cannot sit and wait for a relationship to rebuild itself. Natalie and Kevin’s relationship is a test to viewers on whether it’s worthy for a relationship to continue.

The script had no idea what to do with the ensemble at times. Natalie’s sister, Dani (Britt Baron) is completely forgotten after disappearing. And I was enjoying the sibling dynamic. Since she is never mentioned again, it’s almost like her character didn’t need to exist at all.

Another angle that I am glad that the film didn’t pursue as every film does is the subplot between Kevin and Avery (Diane Hopper). For once the film gives the affair with the study partner trope a rest. But, what is the point of Avery’s character? She’s here for moral guidance and that’s it.

Unnecessary characters were included in the film. Just when I thought that the story would only use implications and reactions from characters, we had to see a scene with Natalie’s mom. It didn’t go anywhere.

And the police officer (Sharif Atkins) got on my nerves. He was unhelpful to the situation and made rude cracks at Natalie. He had a chip on his shoulder which was never fully talked about. His character shouldn’t have been distributed the way it was in the final film.

The only characters who I liked were Dave (Jamie Kaler) and Garrett (Travis Coles). As the team of post-morbid cleaners, they made the ultimate comedic team. I would see a spin-off with them.

As for the horror angle, it does not make a lot of sense. It’s not even horror. Credit goes to Peter Winther for effective camera angles and atmosphere. If only it could have stayed that way because I was on the edge of my seat in the beginning. The music suspensefully created an unnerving atmosphere.

Eventually, the story didn’t care where it was going. It takes this random turn where the reveal to what is really going on makes no sense. I’m not sure what to think of this movie. Was it supposed to be a ghost film or something else entirely?

I actually thought differently of Aftermath because it gave the repetitive tropes a rest, but lost its way into the story. More attention could have been attained to the story. There was also little to no emotion in one integral scene that is totally forgotten.

If you want to check out Aftermath, it’s on Netflix. It is enjoyable up until the second half of the film.