Natalie Dadich (Ashley Greene) and Kevin Dadich (Shawn Ashmore) are a young couple, going through some pretty severe turmoil in their relationship, but the pair decide that it would be a good idea to purchase a new home, in an attempt of solving their problems. With a questionable past, the home does represent financial sense, but the pair end up with more than what they had originally bargained for. Aftermath is the latest, low budget flick to hit our Netflix screens, which may lack a little bit of creativity, but certainly comes across as watchable on the whole.

Director: Peter Winther
Writers: Peter Winther, Dakota Gorman
Starring: Ashley Greene, Shawn Ashmore, Britt Baron, Diana Hopper

Advertised primarily as a horror, I was a little surprised after sitting down and watching Aftermath – a film released in what seems like dark times for the industry on a whole. Almost instantaneously, the classic horror cliches you’d expect in such a picture, jumped out as being prevalent from the first minute, right up until the last, with barking dogs, creaking doors, disappearing objects and needlessly long-drawn-out scenes, being just a few on display.

With that being said, Aftermath certainly wasn’t just a horror film. A large majority of the movie, especially the first hour, seemed to come across as a drama that told the rather complicated story of a relationship going through some testing times, while a suspenseful, murder mystery element entered the fray as the screentime wore on. Filmmakers can sometimes be criticised for trying to blend a multitude of genres, but I felt like Aftermath was written well enough to come across as watchable and somewhat enjoyable at the same time.

One thing worth noting, however, would have to be the fact that Aftermath was based, albeit loosely, on a true story that occurred roughly one hundred years ago, which involved Walburga Oesterreich, a German born American housewife, married to Fred William Oesterreich in Los Angeles. Upon finishing the flick, I’d encourage any viewer to read into the bizarre tale.

In terms of the cast, Ashley Greene and Shawn Ashmore starred as the lead duo, adopting the roles of Natalie and Kevin, respectively. The couple seemed to have a fair amount of chemistry and did well enough, considering the script handed to them. Elsewhere, the support cast was fairly vast, with Britt Baron and Diana Hopper warranting the most onscreen time with their portrayals of Dani and Avery.

All in all, I’m not quite sure whether I’d classify Aftermath as an effective drama, horror or thriller, but the flick certainly had elements of all three and came across as a pretty decent viewing experience. For sure, it probably wasn’t the finest release of the year, but at the same time I’d not discourage anybody from giving this one a shot. As previously mentioned, Aftermath is now streaming on Netflix.

“I had a moment of weakness and I hate myself for that.”

Natalie Dadich – Aftermath