Netflix And Chill: Aftermath (2021)

Ashley Greene and Shawn Ashmore play Natalie and Kevin Dadich, a married couple who are trying to make things work after Natalie had an affair. They're dealing with the aftermath of it all. Kevin also has a job at which he cleans up the mess left by crime scenes. He deals with aftermath there. Plotting a fresh start, the couple buy a house that was the site of a grisly murder-suicide, but it soon turns out that perhaps the blood and guts at the scene wasn't the only aftermath. I think you can see how the makers of this film decided on the title. Strange things start happening once the couple have moved into their new home. Noises make it sound as if someone is in the house, things go missing and then reappear elsewhere, and deliveries of porn start turning up that Kevin swears he never ordered. There are also adverts placed online that put the couple at risk of harm, which escalates things to the point where they end up dealing with local law enforcement, specifically Officer Richardson (Sharif Atkins).

Directed by Peter Winther, and written by Dakota Gorman, Aftermath is the kind of enjoyable thriller that will be predictable to anyone who has seen one or two notable thrillers from the past few decades. It's pretty obvious from the start where things are going, and viewers will remains a few steps ahead of the main characters. Which isn't to say this is bad. There are a few set-pieces scattered throughout this that are genuinely creepy, and impressive in the way they're executed. This is a thriller that creeps very close to horror territory at times, and the third act is enjoyably satisfying and tense. Considering the relatively small filmographies belonging to both Winther and Gorman, this may stand out as the best from both of them. It's easy to dismiss as slick nonsense, especially when characters keep wandering around in the dark, but it's bloody enjoyable nonetheless.

Greene and Ashmore do well enough in the lead roles, fairly believable as the married couple with a very strained relationship. Atkins is solid in his role, Jamie Kaler and Travis Coles lighten things up slightly, playing workmates who help to clean up crime scenes with elbow grease and gallows humour, and Diana Hopper plays Avery, a classroom partner who is there to add potential strain/temptation to the central relationship, although she gets to show quite early on that she's just a good friend. Britt Baron is a highlight, playing Natalie's sister, Dani, and I'll happily watch any film that gives her a decent amount of screentime (having been a fan since enjoying her work in GLOW).

Set up at the very beginning as "based on a true story", be sure to take that with a pinch of salt and just enjoy the whole thing for what it is, an effective thriller that does enough right to make you overlook the more implausible moments. It gets a bit darker than you might expect, and is all the better for it. A perfect film to stick on for an evening when you want a few goosebumps.

7/10

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Anderson Falls (2020)

There's a point in Anderson Falls that somehow marks the divide between the good and the bad. It comes along just after the opening scenes, a thrilling sequence that shows the M. O. of two killers played by Gary Cole and Richard Harmon. Shawn Ashmore is the cop who finds his wife dead, an apparent suicide that he knows is really murder. And it is the way the film shows his mindset after her death that, to me anyway, marks the start of a swift plummet in quality. Ashmore has a beard. Yes, this is a film in which a good cop is shown to be upset by the fact that he has given up on shaving. Because we all know that if you give up on shaving then you give up on life.

At the risk of spoiling anything for viewers tempted to see the film, that first paragraph sums up the film. That's it. Ashmore is the only cop convinced that a number of suicides are actually homicides. He knows this because his wife would never kill herself, she had everything to live for. While obsessing over the case, he upsets his ex-partner-now-Captain (Daniella Alonso), he upsets his mother (Lin Shaye) and he keeps delaying a planned trip to Disneyland with his son (Judah Mackey).

First of all, if you are director Julien Seri, or if you're a friend of his in any way, then please look away now. Seri was supposed to be presenting this film as the first film on the final day of Glasgow Frightfest 2020, but technical issues meant that it ended up being the last film of the festival. And Seri kindly stuck around for the whole day, introducing his movie in a small Q & A session. He seemed very nice, and earnest in what he seems to view as a decent little thriller with some nice twists and turns. Which is why he, or anyone who knows him, should look away now.

Anderson Falls is absolutely awful, in a way that made many viewers laugh out loud during moments that weren't really designed to be comedic. A lot of the problems lie with the script, by Giles Daoust. I'm not familiar with the filmography of Daoust, and this doesn't make me want to check out anything else he has done. Interestingly, he wrote and directed a movie called The Room back in 2006. Maybe he's always wanted to tap into the same rich vein of comedy gold that Tommy Wiseau lucked into with his movie, and maybe Anderson Falls is his best attempt at that. If so, well done. He almost manages it.

This is a film you must see if you want to watch Shawn Ashmore stringing together various photos and news items a la Charlie Day in that popular conspiracy theory image, or if you want to see him shouting "I hate you, I hate you" at those same photos, or even chuckle at him just moments later telling his captain that he has managed to think like the killers and has a list of women he would kill next. Because the killers kill women. Every time. And make it look like the same kind of suicide. Every time. And there's no actual reason for it. No, nothing. Seriously. Which doesn't stop the killers having their own board of connected items and photos in their house basement, despite none of the victims being connected in any way.

Perhaps you'd like to watch a black and white image of Shawn Ashmore making faces alongside other black and white images of Shawn Ashmore making faces in a fleeting scene that looks like the rough cut of a 1980s Godley & Creme music video. Well, good times, this is the film for you. Or maybe you like Gary Cole, who is a great actor, but want to see how he deals with some of the worst dialogue that he's ever been given. Again, have your fill.

I doubt that a better cast could have helped this, considering how much both Cole and Shaye even struggle to do their usual good work, but Ashmore is far from a strong lead. I LIKE Ashmore, I really do, but he is not the right fit for this role. At all. Alonso gets to utter every typical Police Captain line to the troubled cop she cares about, of course, and Mackey is a child, so he can either greatly improve in the next few years or eventually quit if he continues to be as bad as he is here. It's Harmon who comes out of this best, and it's no coincidence that he also has the least lines of dialogue.

Julien Seri got himself a fair few fans with his previous movie, Night Fare (which I have yet to see). I can't see this one making him popular with anyone, aside from bad movie connoisseurs. Avoid at all costs.

2/10

Netflix And Chill: Acts Of Violence (2018)

Cole Hauser plays Deklan, an ex-military man struggling to deal with PTSD (as shown in a scene with him talking to arguably the worst psychotherapist I've ever seen in a movie). Deklan has two brothers, Brandon (Shawn Ashmore) and the soon-to-be-married Roman (Ashton Holmes). All should be happy in their household, but it takes a dark turn very quickly when Roman's fiance, Mia (Melissa Bolona), is kidnapped by men who specialise in trafficking young women they keep drugged and enslaved. The police (even a determined detective played by Bruce Willis) have their hands tied, so it is up to Deklan to lead the trio on a mission that will return Mia alongside her loving partner and eliminate the ruthless head bad guy (Mike Epps).

There are a lot of scenes in Acts Of Violence that feel weak, including that introduction to the character played by Hauser. The script, by Nicolas Aaron Mazzanatto, is a grab bag of cliches and improbabilities. It's hard to believe that any villains would want to keep Mia alive when she keeps doing her damnedest to cause them so much trouble (she's shown as a beautiful woman who is also admired for her fighting spirit). But accepting improbabilities is often par for the course when it comes to action movies on the lower end of the budget scale. Considering the decent cast, I can only imagine that the money not spent buying another lazy turn from Willis had to be spent wisely.

Director Brett Donowho is comfortable enough at this level of moviemaking. I've seen at least one other movie from him, A Haunting At Silver Falls,  enough to know that he can take average materal and turn it into an average feature. There are good moments here, and the action isn't done too badly, for the most part, but he can't ever do enough to raise the material up.

The good news is that some of the cast try harder than Donowho. Hauser is great in his role, and his journey is sketched out in a surprisingly believable way, for the movie he's in. Ashmore is also very good, and Holmes isn't bad, although he's the weakest of the three. Bolona struggles to make a decent impression because she has to work in some of the more ridiculous scenes, but everyone else onscreen shows that they have a stronger pulse than Willis, who is onscreen just enough to remind viewers that he's constantly teetering on the brink of going full Seagal with every role that he is given nowadays. Epps is a decent baddie, and has a number of suitably loathsome henchmen helping him, so that helps.

If you're looking for an action thriller with a plot based around a good dollop of righteous vengeance then this will do the job. There are many better films you could choose, but also many worse ones, so this should be almost slap bang in the middle of any list of potential viewings you might prepare for yourself.

5/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.