Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Aftermath Blu-ray Movie Review

Stranger than fiction.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 5, 2017

Note: As noted below, Aftermath is based on a real life series of events that was widely reported at the time. Therefore, I’ve felt a little more latitude in simply detailing the history involved in the following review. Those who aren’t aware of the source material for the film and who are wary of potential spoiler material are encouraged to skip down to the technical portions of the review, below.

Swiss psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross entered the annals of pop psychology consciousness when she posited the so-called five stages of grief in her now legendary book about terminally ill patients, On Death and Dying. In Kübler-Ross’ formulation, the stages were Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and (finally) Acceptance. Kübler-Ross’ work was focused on those facing an imminent mortality, but later analysts (and in fact Kübler-Ross herself) widened her approach to anyone dealing with any kind of grief, with two additional sequences being added by some people, though the basic outlines of Kübler-Ross’ approach remained more or less intact. In what some might see as kind of an ironic callback to Kübler- Ross’ place of birth, Aftermath is a fictionalized account of a horrifying series of events that began when the Swiss air traffic control system was found lacking in the, yes, aftermath of a devastating midair collision which killed everyone aboard two planes. Since this event was widely reported at the time (the accident took place in July of 2002), if not generally remembered on this side of the pond, it’s not exactly spoiler material to detail that a Russian man who lost his wife and children aboard one of the two planes involved tracked the Swiss air controller held responsible for the carnage, finally murdering the individual in 2004. Aftermath has a riveting story to tell, but Javier Gullón’s screenplay seems stuck in the Anger phase of Kübler-Ross’ five (or seven) stages, before suddenly vaulting into Acceptance in the film’s closing moments.

One of the kind of odd things about Aftermath’s structure is how it offers a prelude of sorts featuring construction worker Roman Melnik (Arnold Schwarzenegger) getting off work early in New York to travel to the airport to pick up his wife and daughter who are due on an incoming flight, only to be told that there’s been a horrible accident. The film then folds back on itself to present a vignette documenting an unwise decision on the part of air traffic controller Jake Bonanos (Scoot McNairy) which led to the tragedy. Interestingly, the film is initially seemingly more concerned with documenting Bonanos’ trauma about the event than Melnik’s, and in fact part of the film’s all too obvious subtext is that tragedy informed both of these characters’ lives, albeit in obviously different ways. Interestingly, one of the two additions when Kübler-Ross’ five stages grew to seven was for Pain/Guilt, and the first part of Aftermath is almost obsessively concerned with those aspects, quite ably documenting the overwhelming sense of remorse that Bonanos feels for the accident (this plot point is evidently somewhat different from the historical record, something that actually played into the real life ramifications for the actual air traffic controller involved).

Already the film is trafficking in such ineluctable sorrow that any narrative momentum would seem to be weighted down by the pure sadness of the situation. Melnik is devastated by the loss of his family, and kind of ironically, Bonanos is doubly traumatized, first by the accident itself and then by the upshot which more or less causes him to lose his family, at least in terms of a living arrangement. The film gives a bit of lip service to Bonanos’ unraveling psychological issues, but it gives pretty short shrift to Maggie Grace as his wife Christina.

They say that truth is stranger than fiction, and aside from the more sensationalistic aspects of this story which indeed are at least based on the historical record, there are some other moments which might strike some as completely unbelievable, but which reportedly were culled from what actually happened. This includes a really disturbing scene where Melnik poses as a volunteer at the crash site and actually is able to find the bodies of his family. It’s a uniquely emotional scene in the film, and one which Schwarzenegger pulls off with both passion but also a surprising vulnerability. McNairy also has his incredibly angsty moments, chief among them when he realizes that the crash has resulted in untold casualties.

Unfortunately, all of this rather real feeling human emotion ultimately gets buried under a somewhat more rote revenge scenario, albeit one that, again, actually happened in the real life episode the film is based on. There’s a really disturbing showdown scene between Melnik and Bonanos late in the film which results in the killing that made this situation such a news sensation several years ago, but then the film wants to gloss over intermediary stages to get to the all important “Acceptance”, courtesy of Bonanos’ now grown son, who seeks to turn the tables on Melnik, who has been released from prison after serving time for his crime. It’s an overly contrived ending for a film that has a lot of really interesting elements, but which tends to dissipate whatever emotional impact it manages to intermittently achieve.

Aftermath Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Aftermath is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. While the IMDb doesn't have technical data on the film, some online sources state that the Arri Alexa was used for the shoot. Pieter Vermeer crafts an intentionally wintry ambience throughout much of the film, with cool tones predominating, and many scenes awash in an abundance of whites, all of which gives the film a rather flat look much of the time. Some scenes, including the sequence where Melnik explores the crash scene, have boosted brightness, with, when combined with the whiteness, tends to keep detail levels at bay, except in the case of some extreme close-ups. The palette is desaturated or at least not very vivid throughout much of the film, helping to establish the bleak emotional aspect of events depicted. Vermeer and director Elliott Lester favor extreme close-ups quite a bit of the time, and in relatively normal lighting conditions, fine detail is often excellent (see screenshot 1). Some of the brief looks at supposed home movies of the Melniks have been tweaked to look almost hallucinatory (see screenshot 16). There are no issues with image instability and no compression anomalies of any note.

Aftermath Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Aftermath's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is perfectly workmanlike and competent, but it really doesn't have much opportunity to knock sonic socks off. The plane crash which causes such trauma is only referred to, never really depicted, robbing the film of one potential overwhelming use of immersion and LFE. As such, surround activity is largely confined to ambient environmental noises, as well as some good directionality in dialogue and attention to differing ambient environments when the film ventures from indoors to outside. Fidelity is fine, all elements are smartly prioritized, and there are no issues with damage, dropouts or other problems.

Aftermath Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary with Director Elliott Lester and Producer Eric Watson


• Interviews with Director Elliott Lester and Director of Photography Pieter Vermeer (1080p; 7:24)


• Aftermath Trailer (1080p; 2:22)

Aftermath Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Arnold Schwarzenegger has been doing some fairly respectable character work as he gets into his golden years, and he has several good moments in Aftermath, though one is always aware that there's a former action idol on screen. The story is so unbelievable that it manages to captivate even when it seems totally incredible, but Aftermath might have been better served by an at least somewhat less melodramatic treatment of the revenge aspects of the tale. Still, Ah-nold fans may want to check this out, and for those considering a purchase, technical merits are strong.