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It’s a quiet domestic scene. A Muslim couple arrive home, she makes a cup of tea in their nicely equipped kitchen and chats to him while he settles down in his armchair in the next room in the background. She takes him his tea, speaks to him and he doesn’t reply. There’s no sound, we can’t hear what she says next, but her actions make it very clear that something sudden and terrible has happened.

That brief moment at the start of After Love changes Mary’s (Joanna Scanlan) life for ever. An English woman who converted to Islam to marry the man she loved years ago, she’s an integral part of the community attending the mosque in Dover, who all support her in the following days. After the funeral, she sits amongst them, clad from head to toe in white, her face a picture of numb pain. It’s only when the dust settles and she starts going through her husband’s possessions that she discovers he had a secret life, something she’d never suspected, and her need to find out more takes her across the Channel to France...

Secrets, lies, love and sacrifices spanning a lifetime resonate across the English Channel and far beyond in writer-director Aleem Khan’s staggering debut, After Love.

Director: Aleem Khan
Cast: Joanna Scanlan, Nathalie Richard, Talid Ariss, Nasser Memarzia
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Drama

BD50 | 1080p AVC | 01:30:13 | 43.9 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English
Subtitles: English (for non-English portions), English HoH

Extras:

-- BFI at Home Q&A (46:24)
In this video conference session from May 2021, Khan, Scanlan and Richard are interviewed by Isra Al Kassi, curator and co-founder of TAPE collective, as they discuss the script, the showcasing of Islamic rituals on screen, the different characters and their motivations, Scanlan having to learn the prayers in Arabic and speak Urdu, the significance of home and family for everyone, and more.

-- "Three Brothers" 2014 short (17:12)
"Three Brothers" was Khan's third short film as writer and director, showcasing three young brothers coping with life after their mother's death and a father who is distant. Shot with non-professional actors with a sparse amount of dialogue, the short still packs an emotional punch even with the very short runtime. The short was nominated for a BAFTA for Best British Short Film.

-- Gallery (3:26)
An automated silent slideshow with posters and behind the scenes stills.

-- Trailer (2:00), Teaser (0:58)