AFTER LOVE | FILM REVIEW
Dir: Aleem Khan (15, 90 mins)
Joanna Scanlan, better known for comedic TV work like The Thick Of It and No Offense, excels in this moving story of love and loss that packs an emotional punch. In a static opening shot, we see Scanlan playing Muslim convert Mary Hussein with her husband Ahmed; a gentle domestic scene, but as she makes him a cup of tea, Ahmed dies. She is left to pick up the pieces, making discoveries about her husband that shock and surprise her.
Set in Dover, and making fantastic use of those white cliffs, Mary discovers that her husband has been leading a double life across the sea in Calais. A chance discovery leads her to the French town where she finds the woman Ahmed has also been living with – Genevieve, played with brittle grace by Natalie Richard – and, most heartbreakingly, a son: Solomon, played by Talid Ariss. Initially planning to confront this ‘other woman’ on her doorstep, she is assumed instead by Genevieve to be her headscarved new cleaner, helping her empty the house before she moves to a new apartment with Ahmed. Instead of telling her the truth, Mary embeds herself in this family, trying to stealthily find out what happened whilst battling grief and rage.
It’s a heartfelt, touching snapshot of loss with added complications, with Scanlan superb as the stoic woman struggling to comprehend how someone she loved so much could keep such a huge secret. The film deals in stillness and silence, painfully observing Scanlan as she observes her polar opposite Genevieve. Writer/director Aleem Khan masterfully controls the slow-burn drama and tension, but also peppers the film with some fascinating imagery: white ceilings crack and Dover’s white cliffs themselves erode as the war of attrition continues to impact on the bereaved families.
The acting is top-notch from all the cast, and there’s an authenticity to Khan’s quiet script as well as a deeply moving resolution to Mary’s story, with a tragedy that puts the whole film in sharp relief. After Love is well worth seeking out.
Out now in cinemas
words KEIRON SELF