HollyShorts: ‘The After’ Is a Harrowing Glimpse at One Man’s Grief

Grief never goes away. It only mutates, transforms, and evolves like the most complex and unforgiving feeling until we learn how to live with that grief. If we are not prepared to confront that emotion or if we have never experienced it before, it can be an even harder to cope. Misan Harriman’s The After is a story of how one man struggles to pick up the pieces following an unspeakable tragedy, and it is a film that could quite possibly save another person’s life.

David Oyelowo’s Dayo is a busy professional living in London with his wife, Amanda, and young daughter, Laura. As his daughter prepares for a dance performance, he tells his work that he will be taking the rest of the day off in order to give his daughter the attention and support she deserves. Those casual plans are destroyed when a horrific act of random violence takes Dayo’s family away from him.

There is no manual for how Dayo should move on and grieve such a huge loss. He spends most of his time alone except for when he takes a job as a rideshare driver and listens to the people who occupy his backseat.

Oyelowo is magnificent. He is a performer who knows how deliver and hurl words and text, but John Julius Schwabach’s screenplay shows how Dayo absorbs more than he projects with his voice. Oyelowo acts so much with his eyes, his quivering jaw, and his posture. Dayo has been broken by sadness, but he knows he must carry on in order to live. An act of kindness–a simple gesture–from a young passenger is a lifeline that Dayo didn’t even know he needed, and Harriman observes Dayo with tenderness and empathy.

Only after I finished The After did I realize that I didn’t take many notes on it. It is a film that leads with its heart as it comforts and acknowledges the tough road ahead for those who have encountered losses big and small.

The After is playing at this year’s HollyShorts Film Festival.