Aftermath Ending Explained: Who Was The Man In The House?

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Netflix has found a new hit in the horror/thriller film Aftermath, but the movie’s ending is more than a little confusing. Directed by Peter Winther and written by Winther and Dakota Gorman, Aftermath stars Ashley Greene, Shawn Ashmore, Britt Baron, Diana Hopper, Ross McCall, Sharif Adkins, Alexander Bedria, Soraya Kelley, and Jason Liles. Sandra Prosper, Debbie Fan, Susan Walters, Jamie Kaler, Travis Cole, Josiah Lipscomb, and Juliette Jeffers also feature.

Aftermath tells the story of Natalie Dadich (Greene) and her husband Kevin (Ashmore), who fall victim to a series of disturbing events after moving into a new house. A professional biohazard site cleaner, Kevin becomes aware of the beautiful property while cleaning a murder-suicide that took place there. He and Natalie have been having problems in their marriage following the discovery of her infidelity, so the couple decides to move into the house – now a steal due to the crime – in an attempt to get a fresh start. Quickly, things start to go bad, as their dog and Kevin are both poisoned, mysterious messages keep showing up around the house, and Natalie starts seeing shadows of a frightening man creeping around the halls at night.

There’s a lot going on in Aftermath. which released on Netflix in August 2021, both thematically and narratively, and it all builds towards a climactic conclusion at the end of the film. The nature of the house’s haunting is finally revealed, and Natalie and Kevin come face-to-face with the source of the of their torment. Here’s what happens at the end of Aftermath, how it happens, and what it all means.

Aftermath Ending Explained

The final act of Aftermath is full of twists and turns. It’s eventually discovered that Robert, the husband of the woman who sold Nat and Kevin the house, is the one responsible for many of their torments, explaining the apparent haunting of their house to a degree. Due to a crippling amount of financial debt, Robert became angry with his wife for selling the house and started terrorizing the new tenants in an effort to oust them. The pornographic magazine subscriptions, vandalism, and the man who attacks Natalie at home all came from Robert, who is then apprehended by the police.

Of course, Robert isn’t responsible for everything weird in the Aftermath house. After he’s locked up, Natalie and Kevin think they’re finally safe, only to discover that the mysterious figure Nat has seen at night is still there. It’s revealed that the man, who’s real name is Otto, was the lover of the woman who designed the house – the same woman who was supposedly murdered by her husband. She designed a secret set of rooms and passageways for Otto so that he could be with her without her husband knowing, but when she eventually chose her husband over him, Otto snapped and killed them both, making it look like a murder-suicide. Otto kills Natalie’s sister Dani, but he’s ultimately overpowered by the combined efforts of Natalie and Kevin. In the final scene, the two are seen leaving the house forever.

Why Was Otto In The House In Aftermath?

The explanation for Otto staying in the Aftermath house for so long is shaky to say the least, and the movie doesn’t spend that much time trying to justify it. The general idea is that Otto, while still a normal, presumably well-adjusted person, agreed to live in the bowels of the house at his lover’s request. She later decided she was no longer interested in him, prompting him to kill her and her husband. But for some reason, rather than flee, Otto decided to remain in the Parasite-style basement afterwards. It’s clear that his mental state deteriorated greatly over the course of his time in the house, but the film doesn’t really explain why this happened. He had access to all of the house’s electronic locks and security systems from the basement, which means he could have left at any time. He also still manages to come up with pretty elaborate schemes despite his deranged state, such as putting Dani’s severed head in Kevin’s bed and making it look like Natalie, and texting Natalie from Dani’s phone.

More information about the couple that built the house, their nature, and the wife’s relationship with Otto is necessary to fully understand why he stays in the basement and becomes obsessed with Natalie. Unfortunately, the Netflix horror movie doesn’t offer any such explanation. The best justification is simply that Otto had already gone mad well before the first murder, which compelled him to stay in the house that he saw as his.

What Will Happen To Natalie And Kevin After Aftermath?

By the end of Aftermath, it seems like Natalie and Kevin have mended most of the damage in their relationship. Kevin comes to better support his wife’s professionally ambitions, and some of the trust they’d lost appears to be restored. It’s unclear if that means the couple will stay together long-term, but it does suggest that there’s at least more hope for them in the future. And they’ll likely do a lot better in a different, less murderous house. Of course, the psychological toll of their experience would be severe. Natalie doesn’t get to react to her sister’s death on screen, but it must have been horrific and traumatizing for her to discover. And after all the things that went on in the house at night, neither Kevin nor Natalie may be sleeping that well for some time.

The Real Meaning Of Aftermath’s Ending

Like many horror movies, Aftermath uses the terrifying events of its story as a metaphor. Specifically, the film is a metaphor about infidelity and the toll it can take on a relationship. The film’s title directly references this theme, alluding to the aftermath of Natalie cheating on Kevin. Otto represents the idea of infidelity throughout the film, manifesting the common feeling after being cheated on that there’s a third, invisible person who’s come between the couple in question.

Through this more thematic understanding of Netflix's 2021 horror movie, the ending becomes more significant. The fact that Natalie and Kevin ultimately kill Otto together, in a joint effort, represents them coming together to heal the rift caused by Nat’s infidelity. It takes both of them to defeat the monster in their house, just as it takes both of them to defeat the monster in their relationship. Otto, by contrast, gives a grim look at what happens when someone is unable to move past problems in their relationships, and instead becomes defined by them. By the end of Aftermath, that proves to be fatal.

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