Before and After is a 1996 American crime drama film based on Rosellen Brown's 1992 novel of the same name about two parents who must deal with the after effects when their son is accused of murder.

In a small Western Massachusetts town, Dr. Carolyn Ryan and her sculptor husband Ben live with their two children Jacob and Judith.

Their world is shattered when Sheriff Fran Conklin tells them that Martha Taverner has been killed and witnesses saw Jacob with her just before she died.

Ben burns the gloves, cleans the jack and tosses it with his art materials before the police return.

When he tells Carolyn what he has done, she is afraid that Ben may have destroyed evidence that could help them find Jacob, as she is fearful that a maniac may have killed both Martha and her son.

He explained that he would take the train to the Boston airport once a week and press the postcards on people who were headed to the cities on the cards.

Touched by his father's sincerity, Jacob opens up and explains what happened: he had been fighting with Martha when she revealed that she was pregnant, in addition to the fact that she had been sleeping with several other boys.

He coaches Jacob on a different version of the story, which they tell to their lawyer, but the plan goes awry when Ben is deposed by the grand jury and realizes that there is no father-son privilege which exempts him from testifying.

The film was shot on location in Egremont, Massachusetts on Baldwin Hill East at the Rathbun Farm.

[5] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "C+" on scale of A to F.[6] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said, "Before and After is a long, slow slog through a story about a family crisis that is largely the fault of the family itself — especially the hot-tempered but loving father, who makes a series of crucial mistakes.