‘Aftersun’ (2022) — Film Review
Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories real and imagined fill the gaps between miniDV footage as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t.
During ‘Aftersun’
A beautifully heartfelt embodiment of the trouble in navigating familial relationships, Aftersun traverses through conflicting emotions as a young woman reflects on what is presumably the last holiday, and potentially the last moments, she spent with her father.
Told through a series of jumping through time and perspective, 11-year old Sophie is on holiday with her young father, Calum. Suggestive language and narrative devices imply an interesting dynamic between Sophie and Calum early on; we learn they do not have a particularly close relationship, though they get on with great chemistry, which is to be expected since they finally get time with one another after what seems like a while.
Admittedly, what lacks in obvious conflict, tension, or captivating plot is happily replaced by several intimate, often beautiful moments shared between Calum and Sophie. The film remains impressively elusive in that the “plot” is stagnant on purpose; Wells pays careful, thoughtful attention on the details, while simultaneously building a guttural desire for the two to grow closer. At the helm of this emotional development is Sophie’s gradual reveal of her deep interest in getting to know and understand the true nature of her father — in which she does so by speaking as freely and inquisitively as an 11-year-old girl would do with a father she doesn’t get much time with.
What may seem like an uneventful, slow-moving story on the outside, Aftersun powerfully explodes into a visceral experience of desperately trying to learn more about and understand loved ones — especially parents or guardians, who have lived an entire life before us.
Recounting the documented memories, we eventually meet an adult Sophie who is still grappling with the weight of her memories from that holiday with her father through a series of old home tapes. Adult-Sophie’s navigation of the fickleness of memory based on the tapes is interspersed with her attempts as a young girl (whether or not they are dream-like or real, who knows) to become closer to her father, to understand him better, and ultimately, demystify his troubled, shelled truths. Puzzle pieces fall into place, loosely forming a progressed image of the father Sophie never really knew, though never giving her the chance to complete it.
As for Calum, he is not only a mystery for Sophie, but for the audience as well. We rarely get to know him outside of his Tai Chi meditations, friendly, mostly likable actions and interactions around Sophie. Though this narrow vision is vision enough, we do see moments of Calum lost in his own world, suggesting there is something heavier, deeper, and more troubling weighing down on him that we begrudgingly, like Sophie, will never fully understand.
Whether or not it was intended, I believe Sophie serves as his only visible anchor to reality. I don’t believe he does this to put Sophie in a difficult position, but I believe that he can’t help it. Despite trying other methods of healing, I think we see him latch on to her as a link to reality and a constant reminder to be stronger than his struggles, that he is needed in more areas of his life than just being on his own.
Performances
I would be doing a disservice to this film if I didn’t mention the incredible performances from the two leads: on-the-rise star, Paul Mescal and, newcomer, Frankie Corio.
It’s one thing to exude such incredible familial chemistry, but it’s another to completely captivate an audience so intensely that it feels near-inappropriate to peer into the character’s lives. This film alone is special, but its power is certainly amplified by such vulnerable, dynamic performances from Mescal and Corio.
After ‘Aftersun’
Living vicariously through the memories of this precious holiday quickly withdrew and emotional uproar in the final act. In a sweeping wave of emotion and tidal shifts of perspective, Aftersun is calm, intimately quiet, yet calculating study of quietly and desperately trying to understand the ones we love.
An overwhelming amount of emotion will wash over audiences with its subtle, detailed, and thoughtful tones. Aftersun is a lingering, fleeting sensation of accepting or trying to accept our inability to fully understand the people closest to us. A beautiful sentiment on the idea that we will never really know others the way we want to, even the ones we love most in life.
Charlotte Wells has now rightfully earned a spot on my list of filmmakers I can’t wait to see more from, as I’m sure she’s earned the same from much more important people all over the world.
Information about the film:
Cast & Crew:
Writer: Charlotte Wells
Director: Charlotte Wells
Editor: Blair McClendon
Calum: Paul Mescal
Sophie: Frankie Corio
