Common Sense Media Review
By Kat Halstead
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Intimate drama has language, infidelity, partial nudity.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
After Love
What's the Story?
In AFTER LOVE, Mary (Joanna Scanlan) discovers that her recently deceased husband, Ahmed (Nasser Memarzia), had a secret life. She sets off from Dover to Calais in search of the truth. There she meets Genevieve (Nathalie Richard) and her son, Solomon (Talid Ariss), who lead her to question everything she knew about her marriage and her own identity in turn.
Is It Any Good?
Writer-director Aleem Khan's debut feature film is a confidently handled and highly original drama that rightly earned him three BAFTA nominations. After Love's lead actor, however, went one better, with Scanlan winning the Best Actress award for her portrayal of Mary. Scanlan, best known for her characters in British comedy dramas such as The Thick of It, gives a mesmerizing performance from start to finish as a woman whose world falls apart around her after the sudden death of her husband. Khan's assured direction allows for a stillness and silence that makes space for the actor to really hold the screen. Every breath and flick of the eye is saturated with emotion, building up a tension that almost surpasses the plot altogether.
Moments of rawness and connection take on symbolic beauty, such as Mary partly submerged beneath the lapping tide on the beach, letting both the water and her feelings wash over her; the two "wronged" women lying next to each other on a bed, mirroring two sides of an experience; or characters looking over a cliff's edge, contemplating the future. It's beautiful, impactful stuff that makes Khan one to watch closely over the coming years and will hopefully lead to broader opportunities for Scanlan to explore her remarkable talent.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the theme of identity in After Love. How did various revelations cause characters to reconsider their understandings of others as well as themselves?
How was Islam portrayed in the movie? What did the film show of Mary's experience of her religion? Why is representation in media important?
How did the characters' development of empathy toward each other help them move forward with their own grief and pain? Can you think of a time when you've shown empathy toward someone or something?
Talk about the strong language in the film. Did it seem necessary, or excessive? What did it contribute to the movie?
Movie Details
- In theaters : January 20, 2023
- On DVD or streaming : February 24, 2023
- Cast : Joanna Scanlan , Nathalie Richard , Talid Ariss
- Director : Aleem Khan
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : British Film Institute
- Genre : Drama
- Character Strengths : Courage , Empathy
- Run time : 89 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Award : BAFTA - BAFTA Winner
- Last updated : April 18, 2026
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