Title: After the Dark

Starring: Wes Bentley, Vinessa Shaw, Jason Issacs and Haley Bennett

Archetypal and unfulfilling stereotypes of the true meanings of success and the American dream often plague many areas of society, from achieving high goals in a person’s career to conforming to the ideals of a typical family. The harrowing process of trying to achieve professional and personal success is grippingly showcased in the new crime drama, ‘After the Fall,’ which marks the feature film directorial and writing debuts of filmmaker Saar Klein. The main character in the helmer’s initial movie is initially presented as a relatable, hard-working family man who’s striving to provide for his wife and sons. But the struggling anti-hero soon undergoes a completely distressing transformation and settles into a life of crime after forgoing his morals, in his quest to maintain his seemingly comfortable lifestyle.

‘After the Fall’ follows an economically struggling suburban New Mexico family, which is headed by Bill Scanlon (Wes Bentley), an insurance salesman who was recently laid off from his job. With his wife, Susan (Vinessa Shaw), continuously asking him when he’s going to be promoted, her well-to-do father constantly judging him for not making enough to his standards and the pressure he’s placing on himself for not turning out like his own father, a police officer who committed suicide after he stole from a crime scene, Bill decides to keep his new unemployment status a secret. Every day when he pretends to be going into the office, Bill is persistently looking for another job, but to no avail.

After his bank warns him that his mortgage payments are falling behind and they may have to foreclose on his house if he can’t catch up, and selling some of his belongings so that he reclaim possession of his SUV after a repo company towed it, Bill decides to turn to robbery to obtain money. At first the quiet and reserved father and husband is quite timid in his approach in taking money from people in their homes. But he soon becomes more comfortable with stealing money in order to continue providing for his family during the interim of his unemployment. So Bill brazenly begins embarking on higher stakes robberies, including a convenience store where he empathizes with the young cashier (Haley Bennett), who’s continuously verbally abused by her boss.

As Bill tries to hide his criminal behavior from his family, he befriends a detective, Frank McTiernan (Jason Isaacs), at their local bowling alley. Bill quickly relate to, and bonds with, the investigator, who knew his father but doesn’t pass any judgments on his actions before his death. Frank, who has learned that family is the most important thing in life after he separated from his wife and consequently is rarely able to see their son anymore, encourages Bill to stay committed to his family, no matter how dire his life becomes. As Bill starts to contend with the fact that his actions are truly hurting the people around him, despite his best intentions to actually help his family, he starts to realize that much like he always tells his sons, he must take responsibilities for his actions if he wants to really be a man.

With the emotionally driven and complex characters in ‘After the Fall,’ Klein’s engaging script effortlessly proves his bold and daring approach to the crime genre, including focusing on the motivations and consequences behind illegal activities people take, instead of the actual actions themselves, makes the characters more thought-provoking and universal. Bill is initially presented as an endearing father and husband, who wants to do whatever he needs to in order to provide for his family and please the people in his life. Bentley shows how he’s afraid to take risks in his job, and instead always chooses the safest options when filing claims, as he cares more about the people making the claims than protecting his company’s assets.

But once his character is laid during the company’s scale-back, the actor powerfully chronicled Bill’s destructive descent into lying to his family about losing his job, and shamelessly turning to robbery to make ends meet. The once demure family man slowly but surely became more confident his actions as he was continuously able to fool everyone about his work, especially Susan and Frank. It isn’t until he has committed several high-risk robberies that he suddenly begins to see the errors of his ways, at which Bentley naturally explores the onset of guilt Bill has as he truly begins to accept the consequences of his actions.

The writer-director’s wise decision to make ‘After the Fall’ more of a relatable and engaging character study than a purely action-driven crime drama was also emphasized by the realistic and powerful production design by Chad Keith. The designer smartly created an upscale house for the Scanlon family, with high-end appliances, furniture and even a swimming pool, which emphasize their image that they have the American dream of financial and domestic success. However, many of the other locations showcased throughout the drama, such as the desolate field behind the Scanlons’ house and the sparsely decorated and run-down buildings throughout the area, powerfully reflect the troubled economy much of the town is experiencing. The clever designs Keith showcased throughout the drama not only powerfully reflect the riveting internal struggles Bill is combating over whether he should continuing stealing money to care for his family, but also the tumultuous tension that begins growing between him and his wife.

‘After the Fall’ is a distinctive and enthralling exploration into the dire motivations and situations that lead a seemingly upstanding family man like Bill Scanlon to turn to crime to uphold his lifestyle. After initially presenting the head of the Scanlon family as being naïve and hopeful that he could instantly improve his career, Bentley intriguingly developed the husband and father into a complex anti-hero who grew increasingly sinister in his actions. While he sporadically questioned his decision to turn to robbery to provide for his family, Bill’s intriguing lack of remorse over his crimes add a meaningful insight and exploration into the immoral decisions people make when they first become criminals. Combined with Keith’s insightful production design of the Scanlons’ upscale home, which emphasizes their desire to lead a better life, and is set against their desolate town, which showcases the life they truly have, ‘After the Fall’ is an insightful exploration into the deterioration of the American dream.

Technical: B+

Written by: Karen Benardello