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

Summary The Aftermath movie ending only loosely explained that Robert, the husband of the woman who sold the house, is responsible for tormenting Kevin and Natalie, but Otto is the real threat.

The weakest point in the ending is Otto's presence in the house and his deteriorating mental state, which is not fully explained.

Natalie and Kevin appear to have mended their relationship, but the audience is left to imagine what happens to them after the events of the Aftermath movie.

The Netflix horror thriller Aftermath's movie ending is more than a little confusing — but once explained, the truth behind Otto and how he lived so long in Kevin and Natalie's house becomes clearer. Directed by Peter Winther, Aftermath stars Ashley Greene, Shawn Ashmore, Britt Baron, Diana Hopper, Ross McCall, and Sharif Adkins. Released on Netflix in 2021, Aftermath is about Natalie Dadich (Greene) and her husband, Kevin (Ashmore), who fall victim to disturbing events after moving into a new house. Kevin becomes aware of the property while cleaning a murder-suicide that took place there.

Kevin and Natalie have been having problems following her infidelity, so the couple moves into the house to get a fresh start. Soon, their dog and Kevin are both poisoned, mysterious messages keep showing up, and Natalie starts seeing shadows of a frightening man. It all builds toward the chilling revelation in the Aftermath ending that the danger has always been closer than it seemed. The reveal was so shocking that it caused more than a little confusion among Netflix subscribers, but with the Aftermath movie ending explained in full, a few things become clearer.

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Aftermath Ending Explained

A Love Triangle Enabled By Secret Rooms Ends Fatally

The Aftermath movie ending is full of twists and turns. It emerges 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. The adult magazine subscriptions, vandalism, and the man who attacks Natalie at home all come from Robert, who is apprehended by the police.

It’s revealed that the man, whose real name is Otto, was the lover of the woman who designed the house.

Robert isn’t responsible for everything weird in the house, which essentially sets Aftermath apart from many modern horror movies. 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, whose real name is Otto, was the lover of the woman who designed the house — the same woman who was supposedly murdered by her husband.

The woman 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, who leave the house forever after that.

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Why Was Otto In The House In Aftermath?

The Weakest Point In The Aftermath Ending Is Its Killer

The explanation for Otto staying in the Parasite-style basement for so long is shaky, to say the least, and the Aftermath ending doesn’t spend that much time trying to justify his presence. 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. For some reason, rather than flee, Otto decided to remain in the basement afterward.

Otto's mental state deteriorated greatly over the course of his time in the house.

It’s clear in Aftermath that Otto's mental state deteriorated greatly over the course of his time in the house, but the film doesn’t really explain why this happened. Otto had access to all the house’s electronic locks and security systems from the basement, which means he could have left at any time. Indeed, Otto's backstory is the weakest link among the Aftermath storylines.

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 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.

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What Will Happen To Natalie And Kevin After Aftermath?

Without A Sequel, The Fate Of The Couple Is Unknown

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 professional 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 — a somewhat hopeful ending compared to most other Netflix horror movies.

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 Aftermath movie explained nothing of the aftermath of the event, so it's entirely up to the audience to determine what happened to Natalie and Kevin.

The Real Meaning Of Aftermath’s Ending

Aftermath Is About Guilt And Infidelity

Like many horror movies, Aftermath uses the terrifying events of its story as a metaphor, which in this case is about infidelity and its emotional toll. 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 perceived presence of a third, invisible person in such a scenario. Through this more thematic understanding, the ending becomes more significant.

It takes both of them to defeat the monster in their house.

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. As the Aftermath movie explained, 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.

Was Aftermath Based On A True Story?

The Case Of Jerry Rice And Janice Ruhter Inspired The Aftermath Movie

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Aftermath was inspired by real events — but with significant changes. It is a loose, cinematic retelling of the harrowing events experienced by real couple Jerry Rice and Janice Ruhter, who suffered similarly sinister and unexplained events after moving into their new home in San Diego in 2011. In the true story that inspired Aftermath, a woman named Kathy Rowe, whom Jerry and Janice outbid for their home, did everything in her power to oust the couple.

This includes ordering thousands of dollars worth of magazine subscriptions to their home, and even sending Valentine's Day cards (supposedly from Jerry) to the couple's female neighbors. The worst thing Rowe did was to send out sexual ads claiming to be from Janice, falsely advertising her desire to be sexually assaulted at home.

Kathy Rowe was sentenced to a year of home electronic surveillance, five years of probation, and ordered to stay away from the couple for 10 years.

Rowe's crimes landed her a year of home electronic surveillance and several years of probation, and she has since apologized publicly for her actions against the couple. Rowe's sentence was rather mild, mainly because, unlike most Netflix true-crime or horror-inspiring deeds, no one really got hurt by what she did. That said, it did take an emotional toll on Jerry and Janice.

How Screenwriter Dakota Gorman Created Aftermath's Harrowing Story

The Terrifying True Story Of Aftermath Helped The Creative Process

In an interview with Jejune Magazine, Aftermath screenwriter Dakota Gorman (Teen Wolf) discusses her creative endeavors in the acting, directorial, and screenwriting world, and among her projects that were up for discussion was the Aftermath Netflix movie. According to Gorman, she was approached to collaborate on the project by director/producer Peter Winther. She recalled that the two were able to balance their talents well, with his specialty being structure and her dialogue. Gorman also mentioned she had fun working on the Aftermath script, particularly because it's based on true events. The writer commented:

That script was actually a lot of fun because we drew inspiration from real events, which to me is incredibly terrifying because we weren’t trying to think of something scary, these instances actually existed and to me, there’s nothing more horrifying than the thought of, 'This can happen to me'

An Aftermath Sequel Is Highly Unlikely

There Are No Plans For Aftermath 2

Despite a noticeable rumble of curiosity, the prospect of an Aftermath sequel is shrouded in strong doubt. The story, which resonated with viewers for its finite and conclusive nature, doesn't naturally lend itself to a continuation. Sequels typically spring from narratives with open-ended questions, yet Aftermath provided a thorough closure to its plot, leaving little room for further exploration without contriving its original fabric.

The silence from Netflix is telling in this regard. There have been no discussions, hints, or announcements pointing toward the development of an Aftermath sequel. This isn't to say Aftermath lacked merit; rather, it's a testament to the integrity of the story as a standalone work.

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How The Aftermath Ending Was Received

The Audience Liked It More Than Critics

As a 2021 Netflix release, there were not very many reviews from Rotten Tomatoes-certified critics at the time. Only three professional critics associated with the site reviewed the film, and all three gave it negative reviews. However, despite these bad reviews, the audience score was much higher, with a 62% approval score for the Netflix horror film.

Roger Moore criticized the "unfocused" script and story, and wrote that the movie lost its way.

In his review for Movie Nation, Roger Moore criticized the "unfocused" script and story, and wrote that the movie lost its way long before it reached its eventual ending. He writes that most viewers' eyes were rolling early on and that continues to the "thoroughly conventional climax." He finishes with, "It's an untidy, unfocused and unsatisfying thriller that won't gild anybody's resume."

However, there were a lot of positive comments from audience members, who seemed to enjoy the ride and the Aftermath ending. One fan wrote, "The atmosphere is nervewracking with excellent build up till the end," and another commented, "I found it more entertaining than suspenseful to begin with but then the last 30 minutes was very intense and made me jump!"