Review of Aftermath (1994) by Al M — 04 Aug 2010

An artfully depraved memento mori, Aftermath is sickening but beautifully executed meditation upon what happens after we have shuffled off the mortal coil. It is a film that, to quote Thomas Hobbes out of context, is nasty, brutish, and short. Aftermath's plot is extremely simple: a mortician stays late one night to mutilate and violate a woman's corpse. But the film would be forgettable trash if it wasn't for Nacho Cerda's powerful direction. Aftermath features no dialogue--we are left with nothing but the images and diegetic sounds in the morgue, which consist largely of the moritician's excited breathing behind a surgical mask. Like Kubrick's 2001 which sets a mood via the omnipresent sound of breathing, Aftermath uses the sound of breathing to heighten the creepiness of this short film and to convey the emotions of this voiceless character.

Aftermath is minimalist filmmaking at its finest and most brutal: no dialogue, only three actors (two of whom are only seen briefly), the single setting of the morgue, etc. In addition, Cerda and his crew create a beautifully stark and minimalist cinematography that highlights the sterile, clean, and colorlessness of the scene, which provides a powerful juxtoposition to the charnelhouse the room becomes as blood runs down glittering, stainless steel drains. Aftermath is not for the faint of heart--it is one of IGN's top 10 sickest films of all time--but it is powerful meditation upon our inherent mortality and our slavery to the flesh, a slavery that drives the moritician on his path of demented delights. We remain slaves to the fleshes desires during life and it is the flesh that will ultimately conquer us in death. This is the world as depicted by Aftermath--it is about the aftermath of our lives, and it is a film that will stay with you long beyond the aftermath of watching it.