# The After (film)
**The After** is a 2023 British live-action drama short film directed by Misan Harriman, in which a grieving London rideshare driver picks up a passenger who forces him to confront the violent loss of his family.[1](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/the-after) Starring David Oyelowo, who also co-produced, it was released globally on Netflix on October 25, 2023 and was nominated for the [Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-award-for-best-live-action-short-film) at the 96th Academy Awards.[2](https://neon-films.co.uk/producer-nicky-bentham-on-the-award-winning-short-film-the-after-close-up-culture-interview/) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28532006/awards/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format and runtime | Live-action fiction short, drama; 18 minutes (BBFC classified version 18m 47s)[1](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/the-after) • [4](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-after-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmde3mtcz) |
| Directorial debut | First film by Misan Harriman, a Nigerian-born British photographer and social activist[5](https://miff.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MIFF_Catalogue.pdf) • [6](https://www.thefilmagazine.com/the-after-2023-short-film-review/) |
| Release | Netflix global release, October 25, 2023; Netflix also acted as sales company[2](https://neon-films.co.uk/producer-nicky-bentham-on-the-award-winning-short-film-the-after-close-up-culture-interview/) • [1](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/the-after) |
| Lead cast | David Oyelowo as Dayo, with Jessica Plummer, Sule Rimi, Amelie Dokubo, and Ellen Francis[1](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/the-after) |
| Key crew | Written by John Julius Schwabach from a story by Harriman; produced by Nicky Bentham and David Oyelowo; cinematography by Si Bell; score by Francesco Le Metre[1](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/the-after) |
| Festival run | World premiere at HollyShorts Film Festival 2023 (winner, Best Live Action) and Official Selection at BFI London Film Festival 2023[1](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/the-after) |
| Academy Awards | Nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the 2024 Oscars, credited to Harriman and Bentham[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28532006/awards/) |
| Audience score | IMDb rating 6.2/10 from about 8,600 users[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28532006/ratings/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Dayo ([David Oyelowo](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-oyelowo)) is a London rideshare driver in mourning after losing his wife and young daughter to a violent crime. On one of his trips he picks up a passenger who helps him confront the past and face his grief.[1](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/the-after) • [8](https://kadawara.com/the-after-2023/) Other accounts describe him as a Londoner who must reconnect with himself and society after witnessing a devastating random attack in the capital.[5](https://miff.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MIFF_Catalogue.pdf)
The film opens by establishing the weight Dayo carries before following him through a working day in his car, and it confronts the gruesome immediacy of a stabbing in London while devoting most of its length to the processing of grief that follows.[6](https://www.thefilmagazine.com/the-after-2023-short-film-review/) Its themes are grief and social awareness of violence, including attention to the people left behind after deaths from stabbings.[6](https://www.thefilmagazine.com/the-after-2023-short-film-review/)
## Production
**Origin.** Producer Nicky Bentham was introduced to Misan Harriman through a mutual friend to discuss a documentary about his photography; after a day of conversation she was struck by his storytelling ability, and the finished film closely follows the story Harriman pitched to her at that first meeting.[2](https://neon-films.co.uk/producer-nicky-bentham-on-the-award-winning-short-film-the-after-close-up-culture-interview/) Harriman and Bentham then worked with scriptwriter John Julius Schwabach to develop the story.[9](https://neon-films.co.uk/interview-special-misan-harriman-nicky-bentham-the-after-oscar-contender/)
Harriman, a self-taught photographer who had never directed a film before, reached out to David Oyelowo on Instagram and secured him for the lead.[10](https://directorsnotes.com/2024/02/02/misan-harriman-the-after/) Oyelowo signed on as a producer alongside Bentham; Fiona Lamptey served as Netflix's commissioning executive.[1](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/the-after) • [11](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28532006/fullcredits/) Harriman has said he wanted the film to make viewers recognize their invisible wounds and feel that it is okay not to be okay, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the killing of [George Floyd](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-floyd), and to present a "crescendo of hope and healing in 18 minutes".[12](https://www.castingnetworks.com/news/how-misan-harriman-assembled-the-pieces-of-his-award-winning-short-the-after/)
**Director.** Harriman (born in Nigeria, educated in England) is a photographer and social activist who became the first black person to shoot the September cover of British Vogue, with work published in Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, and The Telegraph.[5](https://miff.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MIFF_Catalogue.pdf) In July 2021 he became chair of trustees of the Southbank Centre, and in December 2022 he received an honorary fellowship from SOAS University.[13](https://tiranafilmfest.org/films/the-after/) His first time directing on a film set was day one of shooting The After, and he has described moving from the solitude of photography to filmmaking as a journey of collaboration.[10](https://directorsnotes.com/2024/02/02/misan-harriman-the-after/)
## Release and reception
The film had its world premiere at the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival, where it won Best Live Action Short, making it eligible for Academy Award consideration; it followed that with an Official Selection at the [BFI London Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/bfi-london-film-festival).[1](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/the-after) • [12](https://www.castingnetworks.com/news/how-misan-harriman-assembled-the-pieces-of-his-award-winning-short-the-after/) Netflix released it globally on October 25, 2023.[2](https://neon-films.co.uk/producer-nicky-bentham-on-the-award-winning-short-film-the-after-close-up-culture-interview/) The British Board of Film Classification rated it for streaming on October 24, 2023, citing "emotionally intense scenes, violence".[4](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-after-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmde3mtcz) The TIFF program notes describe it as the first Netflix UK original short.[13](https://tiranafilmfest.org/films/the-after/)
**Awards.** At the 96th Academy Awards, held March 10, 2024, The After was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film, credited to Harriman and Bentham.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28532006/awards/) • [14](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2024) It also won the 2024 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Short Form (Live Action), the African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Short Film, and the Astra Award for Best Short Film.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28532006/awards/)
**Critical response.** Reception was divided. Tim Miller of Cape Cod Wave Magazine gave it 3/4, praising Oyelowo's "devastatingly emotional performance" as a London executive turned taxi driver triggered to release his pain.[15](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_after) A review in The Film Magazine was more critical, judging that early moments are choppily edited and later moments lean on familiar grief-film cliches, while still crediting Oyelowo with anchoring almost every shot.[6](https://www.thefilmagazine.com/the-after-2023-short-film-review/) On IMDb the film holds a 6.2/10 rating from about 8,600 users.[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28532006/ratings/)
## References
1. [The After, British Council UK Films Database](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/the-after)
2. [Producer Nicky Bentham on The After, Neon Films interview](https://neon-films.co.uk/producer-nicky-bentham-on-the-award-winning-short-film-the-after-close-up-culture-interview/)
3. [The After (2023) Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28532006/awards/)
4. [The After, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-after-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmde3mtcz)
5. [MIFF Catalogue, 18th Mumbai International Film Festival](https://miff.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MIFF_Catalogue.pdf)
6. [The After (2023) Short Film Review, The Film Magazine](https://www.thefilmagazine.com/the-after-2023-short-film-review/)
7. [The After (2023) Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28532006/ratings/)
8. [The After (2023), Kadawara Celluloid Diaries](https://kadawara.com/the-after-2023/)
9. [Interview: Misan Harriman / Nicky Bentham, Neon Films](https://neon-films.co.uk/interview-special-misan-harriman-nicky-bentham-the-after-oscar-contender/)
10. [An Insuppressible Barrage of Grief: Misan Harriman on The After, Directors Notes](https://directorsnotes.com/2024/02/02/misan-harriman-the-after/)
11. [The After (2023) Full Cast & Crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28532006/fullcredits/)
12. [How Misan Harriman Assembled the Pieces of The After, Casting Networks](https://www.castingnetworks.com/news/how-misan-harriman-assembled-the-pieces-of-his-award-winning-short-the-after/)
13. [The After, TIFF programme notes](https://tiranafilmfest.org/films/the-after/)
14. [The 96th Academy Awards, Oscars.org](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2024)
15. [The After, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_after)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Individual short films*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license