After Love
A woman discovers a shocking secret after the unexpected death of her husband in this moving drama from a first-time director to watch.
The White Cliffs of Dover, an enduring symbol of British nationalism, take on a different meaning here. For Mary Hussein (Joanna Scanlan), their crumbling chalk façade represents her identity and sense of self, eroding away and growing ever distant.
Mary is a British Muslim convert who is happily married to Ahmed (Nasser Memarzia), and fully integrated into his culture. When Ahmed dies suddenly Mary is devastated. She soon discovers that he had a secret family just across the Channel. Unable to go on without fully knowing the truth about the man she adored, she travels to Calais leaving the collapsing cliffs in her wake.
Anchored by a phenomenal performance by Scanlan, this is an accomplished debut from writer and director Aleem Khan which employs elegant, mirrored scenes and repetition to explore the threads that link the two women.