A sombre tale of grief and revenge
FILM: Aftermath
CAST: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maggie Grace, Scoot McNairy
DIRECTOR: Elliott Lester
Aftermath is a sombre narrative of loss, grief and revenge which Elliott Lester adapted from a real life air mishap and its repercussions on a construction worker who loses his family and on the aviation employee under whose watch the midair collision/crash occurred on German soil. It could have been an accident which doesn’t stop the public from denouncing the air traffic controller. Watching his devastation on being deemed the cause of the catastrophe which consumed all passengers on board, I couldn’t help but think of the stony— hearted who delight in the killing of innocents. Roman (an all too human Schwarzenegger) is overwhelmed by grief. Unable to cope, he passes out (like Tony Soprano) and spends nights in the cemetery. And to think the movie begins on a Christmassy note of love and festivity. Lester’s choice of Xmas setting is deliberate; the real life tragedy took place in July. The horrific collision is shown only as a graph on the ATC communications system but the aircrafts’ destruction in the wintry environs is gut wrenching: oh, the horror of seeing toys, jewellery and mangled corpses dangling in the snowy forest. Helplessness and suicide attempts, grim markers in the territory of despair, are deftly depicted through the angst of the principal characters. Departing from his trademark macho roles, Schwarzenegger gives a strong performance as a bereaved man undone by revenge but Scott McNairy is a powerhouse of emotion as the accused ATC Jacob.
Unlike Roman who rejects compensation and goes to court, Jacob accepts relocation for his own safety leaving wife Christina (Maggie Grace) and son behind. But vengeance has a long reach. Years later, the son sets out to avenge his father. But there’s an attitudinal change at the eleventh hour. Laudable as it is, the abrupt ending may leave viewers feeling shortchanged and wanting... ich weiss nicht... more?