Aftermath

Directed by Elliott Lester, Aftermath follows two men (Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Roman and Scoot McNairy’s Jake) as they attempt to move on with their lives in the wake of a deadly (and preventable) airplane crash. Filmmaker Lester, working from Javier Gullón’s screenplay, admittedly does a terrific job of initially luring the viewer into the deliberately-paced proceedings, as the movie kicks off with a compelling opening stretch that builds towards an impressively tense sequence detailing the aforementioned airplane crash – with the promising vibe heightened by the subtle yet engaging efforts of both Schwarzenegger and McNairy. It’s fairly disappointing to note, then, that Aftermath eventually progresses into a meandering and predominantly uninvolving midsection devoid of wholeheartedly compelling elements and attributes, with the growing emphasis on generic, well-worn story beats and character arcs preventing the viewer from working up any real interest in or sympathy for either protagonists’ exploits. (And it doesn’t help, either, that the film, shot by Pieter Vermeer, suffers from just about as low-rent and styleless a visual sensibility as one could possibly envision.) By the time the partially surprising but mostly predictable final stretch rolls around, Aftermath has confirmed its place as a well-intentioned misfire that squanders the first-class work of its charismatic stars.

** out of ****