NO TRAILER CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
First, the Recap:
KIA. In the line of duty. It’s a tale we’ve heard far too often, and it reverberates with the tragedy of lives being lost too soon, though also speaks to the chosen path overall via career or course individuals have taken where accepting this risk is a part of what’s expected. However, once again, this never mitigates nor lessens the sense of bereavement when a soldier, policeman, or fireman falls while performing their job. How those left behind then choose to deal with it becomes a weighty matter in itself. For detective Michael Darcy (Timothy J. Cox), it is a reality he never wished to face but is now forced to with the murder of his police officer son who’s been murdered while on assignment. Post funeral, Michael finds himself not just in sorrow, but filled with a searing longing for retribution. Can his daughter Annie (Beth Metcalf) be the voice of reason?
Next, my Mind:
Let’s be candid for a moment. ANY cinematic effort that chooses to highlight a foundational premise centered on this particular theme is one worthy to be noticed, acknowledged, shared, and contemplated, mainly thanks to the disheartening fact that the actuality of these instances happening in our country over the last several years remains a sobering truth ripping at the fabric of our society and, even more tragically, a sign of how fallen our sense of humanity has become. Now, this isn’t to be some downer or embittered diatribe towards ALL people, but more a generalization when looking at how torn apart, polarized, and violent place we’ve watched our country turn into. This all said, what we’re provided here via an 18-minute short film from director/producer/editor Thomas Angeletti and writer/producer Timothy J. Cox is an uncomplicated but poignant, in-your-face exposé on overt grief, rage, the search for justice, and the need for logic in times of chaos.
The one-setting effort sees a veteran detective along with his daughter arriving home after the funeral for his son and the subsequent, emotively potent conversation that ensues as he attempts to come to grips with precisely how he SHOULD cope vs. how he WANTS to. It’s already hard enough to fathom this KIND of specific loss unless you’ve gone through it yourself, as it processes to me on a totally different plane than even when we’ve lost someone to old age, illness, or even accident. It ALL hurts deeply, please don’t misunderstand, but here the narrative is not ONLY having us encounter the character’s loss. Rather, it’s a study then in HOW the scenario can cause even the most sane, civil, law-abiding, normal person to start thinking in a manner that isn’t typical of them, much less to then entertain associated ACTIONS to accompany it all that goes that much further BEYOND sanity or rational choice.
Thematic explorations of coping, believing that diving back into (or JUST into) something else will resolve the pain, the dangers of justifying possible decisions based solely on the intense feelings of the moment, a shattered mindset, blind insistence of OUR version of “due process”, and whether we will end up listening to our own conscious or that of those closest to us through the haze of shock and bitterness are all on display here with enough urgency and purposeful strength to drive home the points the narrative is making. As I, effectively, stated earlier, this critic really does hope that the statements conveyed fully and convincingly resonate with viewers, because whether we wish to admit it or not, we are ALL capable of potentially harmful acts, especially IN the name of perceived morality or just plain reprisal as is demonstrated through this story. This stands out even stronger here in portraying someone having the MEANS to SEE it happen should they choose.
The finale therefore stands out with its own magnitude of unique significance, very astutely putting a cap on events YET leaving a LOT to conjecture in a manner that had me absolutely questioning certain facets of what MIGHT have come next! Whether by design, or just what I personally read into it, either way it was a perfectly suited way to end the film. This makes (if I have counted correctly!!) the thirty-eighth project I have reviewed that involves who I continue lauding as one of THE preeminent character actors in all of indie film currently, Timothy J. Cox. Now, what gets me here is that, being totally transparent, I cannot say in itself this was one the most compelling performances I’ve witnessed from the indie vet–and YET, he STILL more than manages to utterly DRAW you into the character he’s playing with total skill and engaging charisma, a testament to his acting abilities that showcases EXACTLY why I so greatly admire, support, and always look forward to seeing him in action.
Here, he plays Michael, a long-standing detective whose world has been tragically fractured by the untimely and heinously enacted death of his police officer son. Arriving home from the funeral with his daughter, Michael immediately begins to spiral in a multitude of ways, soon reaching a point of wishing to carry out his own form of correction for the situation, despite the building and impassioned pleas of his daughter NOT to be involved with the investigation much less do something blatantly rash. Whether Michael cares or is even hearing his daughter’s voice remains enigmatic or conspicuously in disagreement with her, a true “heat of the moment” circumstance, and Cox does infuse the character with tangibly believable gravitas apropos to the narrative’s course. It’s a fine performance, but perhaps somehow lacked a LITTLE of the grander sense of dramatic weight and often conspicuous levels of raw energy I’ve seen in many of his other roles. Still, a completely worthy effort and acting win for Cox.
Metcalf also lends a thoroughly grounded, fully credible performance opposite Cox here through her role as Annie, Michael’s daughter whose degree of muted shock at the loss of her brother is, like her father’s, initially lead by the overwhelming reality of what’s just transpired and how it has now altered their lives forever. But, even as Annie tries her best to handle her own immediate inner suffering, she empathetically dotes on him instead, only to ultimately be drawn into a conversation that does decidedly askew, with her being the tenuously hanging-on words of better wisdom to her father’s scattered, frantic, and growing hostility in aiming towards the “solution” he longs for. Then, will it really be her strong, persistent, and plausible ideas that can pierce a hardened spirit and motivation that her father is attempting to embrace–or will her own notions of right and wrong possibly come into play themselves?
Metcalf does a great job in imbuing Annie’s character with that appearance of fighting an inner battle coming out of the conversation with her father. I had a few brief occasions where I felt the required emotional intensity was maybe JUST a tad forced on Metcalf’s part, but not remotely enough to say it took a single thing away from an otherwise entirely adept performance by the actress. So, in total, “After” is yet another of what this critic calls “necessary films” in that we SO need to be more cognizant and wholly supportive of those whose jobs put them in harm’s way each and every day while also being able to demonstrate genuine compassion towards those who have had to face this precise situation depicted. Plus, the film does beg, whether you take it literally or metaphorically, a question to ask yourself if even considering placing yourself IN this plot or anything similar in form–could YOU pull the trigger?
STAR RATING (out of 5):
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
