Aftermath is a 2021 horror-mystery-thriller movie directed by Peter Winther and starring Ashley Greene, Shawn Ashmore, Sharif Atkins and Britt Baron, alongside other cast members.

– Aftermath review does not contain spoilers –

Movies that start with the “inspired by true events” card are always dicey. More often than not they are used as a cheap gimmick to pique the interests of the viewers when the story is, in fact, not very true.

Aftermath starts as such – with a title card and then we move on to a 911 call and a murder. As the credits are on, we watch, painfully slowly, what seems to be a murder-suicide, complete with a gnarly blown-up head. If anything, the opening sequence promises blood and guts. Does it deliver though? Well…

Natalie and Kevin’s relationship is in shambles – there’s been an affair from her side and their therapist asks them to start over. But, oof, Kevin makes a doozy and decides to move into the murder house. You know it’s a goner when people decide to move into murder houses.

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Aftermath follows the usual tropes of a horror movie, except the very vocal Dani who is my spirit animal. However, the funniest part of the movie is when they move in and Kevin tries to scare Natalie and she punches him in the face. That’s exactly how I feel when there are stupid jump scares.

The scares, along with the music, are pretty run-of-the-mill. “Scary” music plays whenever something remotely creepy happens. Stuff appear and disappear, the temperature changes in the house and mysterious messages are left behind. It’s not the worst I have seen, but it certainly isn’t anything remotely new. However, it does build on the intensity quite well.

For the most part of Aftermath, I wondered whether this is a haunted house thing or an actual person being a dick. For a big chunk of the runtime, it could’ve gone both ways.  When it comes time for the truth to come out, it’s a mixture of goofy and a little terrible. The twist is kinda believable, mostly fantastical, but as a one-time watch, the suspense is effective enough to keep you guessing.

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The atmosphere of Aftermath stays mostly intense and coupled with the production quality, there are not many things that go wrong if you keep your expectations low. Listen, this isn’t Get Out and it isn’t trying to be it. It’s a movie that you can watch and enjoy, with a few familial offerings, without giving many thoughts and it does very well with that.

When it comes to characters, I started Aftermath by really liking the two protagonists. Natalie and Kevin, with all their flaws, are likeable people. Ashley Greene and Shawn Ashmore are great and play their characters well.

Summing up: Aftermath

Aftermath is a thriller that is effective and kinda goofy. It’s a definite one-time watch but it flows well. Most of its scares are very much known and expected, still, it makes for a good watch. If you’re interested to watch something without much hassle, then this one’s going to be a decent watch.

Aftermath (2021) is streaming on Netflix.

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