Aftermath, 2021
Kevin (Shawn Ashmore) works as part of a crew that cleans up crime scenes. By chance, he works a murder-suicide and ends up purchasing the home where the crime was committed for himself and his wife, Natalie (Ashley Greene). The couple is on rocky ground and trying to mend their relationship. But not soon after they move into the new house, strange events begin to occur. Who, or what, is responsible?
This isn't necessarily a bad horror film. But it is a horror film that feels cobbled together from other, better movies. A splash of
WARNING: spoilers below
Gerald's Game here, a dash of Housebound there
Gerald's Game here, a dash of Housebound there
, and you've got a film with effective but familiar thrills.
Ashmore and Greene are fine as the central couple. The pre-existing issues with trust and betrayal mean that the film starts from a level of tension and stress in the air. When bad things start happening, the inclination of the couple is to turn on each other instead of figuring out what's going on.
Sharif Atkins as a detective working on the couple's case is given little to do aside from incredulously repeat the couple's stories back to them and then explain why they aren't probable. Diana Hopper also makes a good impression as a classmate of Kevin's, but she is also given precious little to do besides make Natalie jealous and offer Kevin a few words of wisdom.
As I said, there are some decently scary and disturbing moments. What does harm the film, however, is that the final explanation for what happened just makes very little sense. There are stakes in the final act, but it's all against a backdrop of a confusing backstory.