The Aftermath is set in postwar Germany in 1946. Rachael Morgan (Keira Knightley) arrives in the ruins of Hamburg in the bitter winter, to be reunited with her husband Lewis (Jason Clarke), a British colonel charged with rebuilding the shattered city. But as they set off for their new home, Rachael is stunned to discover that Lewis has made an unexpected decision: They will be sharing the grand house with its previous owners, a German widower (Alexander Skarsgård) and his troubled daughter. In this charged atmosphere, enmity and grief give way to passion and betrayal.

Set following the end of World War II in the bombed-our ruins of Hamburg, Germany where the horrors of war have net yet subsided, director James Kent opens audiences up to an intriguing narrative that pulls at the emotions of its audience and places them in a complicated romantic love triangle. Taking the lead is Keira Knightley as Rachael Morgan, a haunted English woman who has been sent for by her husband Colonel Louis Morgan (Jason Clarke), a British Army officer who has been left to supervise Hamburg’s surrender, and the actress finds herself in a role that is both familar to, as well as being unlike anything she has played before.

While Knightley is accustomed to the workings of period drama and the heightened tension that such cinema brings, here she really brings a different part of herself to the big screen. When we first meet her Rachael is haunted and broken with a deep loss from the war and the atmosphere of Hamburg and her distant relationship with Louis only makes this more intense. There’s a real isolation to Knightley’s performance here and the film’s deep winter setting only intensifies this. What we see on screen is a woman who is really not herself and almost at the point of giving up on any notion of happiness. It’s a very brave performance for Knightley to take on and she really commits herself to the role and as the film moves forward you’re drawn into her characters development.

But in the cold of this bombed out city, Rachael is able to find solace in Alexander Skarsgard’s mysterious Stefan Lubert, a refined and cultured German architect who has faced his own losses and who holds his own demons. While the relationship between Knightley and Skarsgard starts off as a rather antagonistic affair, passions soon rise to the surface and a deep, loving chemistry blossoms between the two of them. On camera, Knightley and Skarsgard make for a beautiful couple both from their brunette/blonde complexion to the softness that grows between the two of them. It’s easy to see why their characters fall for each other and the risk of discovery makes their affair that much more racey.

With a couple as hot as this, The Aftermath quickly moves into the fast lane and things get steamy fast. The Aftermath is a deeply erotic film and things do get hot under the covers between our two lovers. But all of it is handled in a classical and graceful manner thanks to Kent’s direction. While there is plenty of skin shown-off by both Knightley and Skarsgard, their eventual lovemaking is shot with an eye honed into the beauty of their shared passion and it’s setting, and a heavy use of white light and soft focus gives their shared embrace a deep sensuality.

Adding to the romantic longing of The Aftermath is the film’s winter setting which with its crisp whites and sharp blues really pulls you into the romance that grows between Rachael and Stefan. But while their love may be complete bliss, audiences are also reminded of the harsh realities of the war that was just fought and there are moments where out of nowhere shocking violence erupts. The Aftermath is definitely a balance between burning passions and shocking thrills and both keep the audience completely on edge in a film that is definitely a period piece done well.

Intelligent, classy and deeply alluring, The Aftermath is a film that will make your blood run high thanks to its narrative of dangerous passions.

Image: 20th Century Fox

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Dr. Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) moves his family out of the big city to the country. There he discovers that they have moved near a pet cemetery that rests on an ancient burial ground, and when his daughter is killed in an auto accident, he takes the girl’s body to the cemetery…..where it is resurrected in terrifying demonic form.

Right off the bat the horrors really creep up on you with Pet Sematary and directors Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer fill this new adaptation up with some serious dread. The pair go right to the heart of King’s terrifying narrative and they show great control of the story which comes from both a respect for the material, along with the opportunity in front of them. And that opportunity is to create a damn scary horror movie….and on that point they absolutely succeed.

As a cinematic experience Pet Sematary moves quick and two the point, and the horrors rush head on towards the audience. Kölsch and Widmyerand frame their story with a en medias res structure and showcase the destruction of the Creed family at the hands of the dreaded Pet Sematary that lies on the outskirts of Ludlow, Maine. While most horror films are known to plod on with their stories or simply leave out any type of first act or framework and instead rush straight towards the action, Pet Sematary takes its time to build up its story and the horrors that lie ahead. It’s structure is perfectly balanced and when the monsters are unleashed everything moves at a tremendous pace.

Pet Sematary is very much a character study and central to this is the character of Dr. Louis Creed played by Jason Clarke. Clarke’s portrayal is that of the everyman gone astray. As a doctor he’s a realist with no sentimentality of anything beyond what he can explain, so the very notion of the Pet Sematary and the supernatural completely washes over him. But while you first come to view him as a moral man, he soon crosses the line, and any chance of morality are completely dashed when he learns of the power of this dark and evil place.

Clarke’s portrayal is a layered one and you see his metamorphosis from a good man into a corrupted one all through events that are completely out of his control, but which he still somehow invites into his world through his own actions. It’s very easy to empathise with his performance as Dr. Louis Creed and when he finally crosses the line, and goes to that dark and dangerous place, then you know that there’s absolutely no coming back from this evil here.

Joining Clarke in the film is actress Amy Seimetz who stars as Louis’ wife Rachel Creed, and her performance is one of straight terror. As the primary supporting character Rachel is the quintessential American mum who on the surface looks completely normal and in control, but as the story moves forward we get to peer inside her fractured mind and she becomes the literal embodiment for the idea of trauma. This trauma for Rachel comes from the haunting memories of her sister Zelda, who died of spinal meningitis, and whose spirit still traumatizes her at every moment.

As the film progresses forward and the evils of Ludlow begin to stir in the Creed household, this trauma is only amplified further, and the horrors of her past collide head on with the terror of the present. Seimetz does a great job of portraying this horror, and even though your rooting for her to run and save her family before it’s all too late….there are some evils that simply can’t be undone.

Thematically, Pet Sematary explores some very interesting territory including family relationships, childhood trauma and death, but the most interesting theme that I found in it was through it’s exploration of man’s trespass into the natural world and the consequences that befall anyone who crosses this line. As you witness Louis breaking this boundary and falling upon the ‘sour ground’ of the Pet Sematary, the fear really begins to build in you with this most unnatural of actions and it soon becomes an unstoppable journey of horror.

Pet Sematary is the horror movie that absolutely creeps up on you and once its scares make their way up onto the screen there’s no escape from it. Combining spot on jump scares, gnarly body horror, jagged slasher moments and the unnerving psychological horror of an evil that will not be stopped, you’re sure to be on the edge of your seat the whole time. Kölsch and Widmyerand also make several changes to their adaptation of King’s work and the results are a very fresh piece of horror cinema, and the ending absolutely gets your heart racing!

If you’re interested in experiencing a sinister nightmare that comes full circle then Pet Sematary is definitely the movie to indulge in. But be prepared for the fear to completely wash over you, because this horror movie is unstoppable!

Image: Paramount Pictures

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5. Baltasar Kormákur: An adventurous filmmaker

It takes guts to explore the world’s highest peak on film, and director Baltasar Kormákur certainly has plenty of it as he seeks to understand and honour the men and women who perished in their pursuits. Kormákur handles all aspects of this incredible cinematic feat with a great deal of sensitivity and accuracy to true historical events, as well as the detail that surrounds the mountain.

4. Raw emotion

Everest is a film powered by emotion in its rawest form. From the exhilaration that the climbers first feel when they embark on their quest, to the fatigue and wear that begins to surround them as they make their ascent, Everest pulls at its audience’s heart strings and won’t let go for a second.

3. Breathtaking scope

Everest is powered by feats of extraordinary photography, and director Kormákur certainly has an extraordinary collaborator in cinematographer Salvatore Totino, who captures the forces of nature in both their calm and terrifying states. Totino’s skills as a photographer amplify the film’s emotional hold on the audience, drawing them further into its epic story, and making it that much harder to let it go afterwards.

2. The heroism of Rob Hall

While Kormákur gives all of Everest‘s cast room to breathe and to express the characterisation of their true life counterparts, it’s Jason Clarke who steals the movie as New Zealand climbing expert Rob Hall. Clarke as Hall places the lives of his team ahead of his own, and channels both his incredible mountaineering skill and heroic stance as a leader.

1. The highest peak on earth

But at the centre of the story is Everest itself — an all-powerful bastion of the impossible. At all times you feel the mountain’s colossal presence, and the danger that it casts down on those who attempt to scale it. Kormákur and his cast pay extraordinary respect to this phenomenal natural presence, and audiences will come to understand just how powerful a force of nature this great peak is.

Image source: Paramount Pictures.

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