It’s the winter of 2002. Immigrant Roman Melnyk (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has created a great life for him and his family in America, making a living as construction foreman. He’s excited that his wife and expectant daughter are arriving for the holidays, and is counting down the hours to when he will pick them up at the airport. However, what started as a happy day, soon ends in tragedy. When Roman arrives at the airport, he is ushered into a small room where he is informed that there was a fatal accident in the sky, and that there were likely no survivors. Roman is devastated and in disbelief, and just wants to see the his wife and daughter.

Meanwhile, air traffic controller Jake (Scoot McNairy, Halt and Catch Fire) also has a traumatic, life-changing day. Things are a bit chaotic in the control room. The phones are broken, and his co-worker has just gone on break. Jake is working alone and must constantly swap back and forth between two workstations. This leads to a miscommunication that causes two airplanes to collide mid-air. Jake is in shock and doesn’t know how to react—he was ultimately responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent people.

The film, which is based on true events, cuts back and forth between Roman’s and Jake’s stories, exploring how their once-happy lives fall apart in the aftermath of this tragic event. Roman just wants someone to apologize for killing his wife, daughter and unborn granddaughter, but no one is willing to admit/accept responsibility. As the weeks and months go by, he becomes more and more obsessed with finding the man responsible for the crash. At the same time, the guilt of the lost lives, the constant hounding by and defamation in the press, and having hateful things spray-painted on his house, start to take their toll on Jake and his wife Christina (Maggie Grace). Their once happy marriage starts to crumble, and Jake wonders how he can continue to live like this. As these two men fall further into their depression, their two stories ultimately come crashing together.

Aftermath is most certainly not the feel-good film of the year, but it does feature some really strong, emotional performances. I can’t recall ever seeing Schwarzenegger so raw and naked (both literally and figuratively) on screen. He and McNairy hold nothing back, and the emotion they convey in these characters feels very real—you get a good sense of how these men’s lives were affected and torn apart by this tragedy. Aftermath is not only a solid drama about grieving, but there are also some thriller aspects to the film. As Roman and Jake get deeper into their depressions, you don’t know what to expect or what these men are capable of. The films heads into some really dark areas, and the score is well-utilized to add to the sense of uneasiness and tension in the latter half of the film.

While I enjoyed this film overall, I think the final act goes one step too far. It strays from the factual source material to add one additional twist to the story in order to bring the story full circle and more neatly wrap things up. This comes off as a little to convenient, absurd and ridiculous. However, those who enjoy when everything is wrapped up in a neat package will probably appreciate it.

The Blu-ray presentation is quite impressive. The film is always creatively and beautifully framed and shot. The picture is very detailed, clean and crisp without any noticeable grain. While there are some brighter scenes, the colors tend to be mostly muted with grayer overtones and a bit overcast, which helps to convey the darkness and depression being felt by the characters. The audio track provides clear dialogue and makes use of the surround and stereo channels to add dimension to what’s happening on screen. However, the soundtrack really shines with the film’s ominous score, and the bass is present in booming airplane and flashback shots used to transition between scenes or to demonstrate what’s on the character’s minds. The Blu-ray contains a small but interesting selection of bonus material—the film’s trailer, an audio commentary, and interviews with the director and cinematographer. The disc comes packed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase and includes an insert with redemption instructions for an UltraViolet digital copy of the film.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:33:57)

Blu-ray:

• 1080p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish

Digital HD (Redemption Deadline 6/6/2018):

• Digital HD copy redeemable via Vudu

Extras:

• Audio Commentary with Director Elliott Lester and Producer Eric Watson (1:33:57)
  The men provide an interesting and informative commentary throughout the film. They talk about the script, working with Arnold Schwarzenegger, the score/sound design, and shooting in Colombus, OH. They constantly point out cameos and shooting locations, mention which parts of the film are based on the facts and where they took liberties, and share a lot of behind-the-scenes/production stories. For the most part I enjoyed the commentary, but sometimes the participants went off on a bit of a tangent with inside jokes, stories or name-dropping that the listener likely won’t care about or fully understand.
• Interviews with Director Elliott Lester and Director of Photography Pieter Vermeer (7:24)
  The director talks about the script, casting the film, the performances by Arnold, Scoot & Maggie Grace, and the discovery of Louis Pullman (the son of Bill Pullman). The cinematographer talks about the framing of the scenes, using natural light, and the film’s colliding storyline structure.
• Aftermath Trailer (2:22)
• Also from Lionsgate (9:22)
  Play All or select from trailers for “Imperium”, “Patriot’s Day”, “Solace”, “Extortion”, and “Maggie”.

Final Thoughts:

Aftermath is not a feel-good film, but it does feature really strong, visceral and emotional performances by leads Arnold Schwarzenegger and Scoot McNairy. It is really interesting to see how these two men’s happy lives drastically change in the aftermath of a tragic plane crash—both for very different reasons—and how their stories ultimately come together in the end. I found it fascinating that much of the story is based on real events, including some of the darker elements. The technical presentation of the Blu-ray is quite good, with an immaculate picture and and quality audio track. The disc contains a small selection of bonus material as well as a digital copy of the film. This is a very different kind of role for Schwarzenegger and is definitely worth a look.