AFTERSUN (2022)
Directed by Charlotte Wells
A24, 101 minutes, R (For ridiculous rating!)
★★★★
Aftersun is the directorial debut of Charlotte Wells that, with considerable merit, accumulated heaps of critical praise including a few Oscar nominations. It is usually tagged as a coming-of-age film, which it certainly is, but it’s also an incisive portrait of depression. Not the dark, angry kind, more like the sort that sets in when you realize your life never seems to go in the direction that you hoped.
It is a classic small film about a father, Calum (Paul Mescal), who is amicably divorced. His ex-wife got custody of their daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio). Because Sophie lives in Edinburgh and Calum is in London, he’s not even a part-time dad–more like a once-a-year one. He and Sophie set off for a father and daughter vacation in the sun. Their journey takes them to Ölüdeniz, Turkey, so though several reviews wrongly located it in Torremolinos, Spain. (Presumably that’s because the film is British and that’s where the English flock to tan.) Sophie is 11 and a Calum is about to turn 31. Those ages suggest what went wrong: Parenthood at 20 is often a bigger challenge than some can handle. Calum hasn’t found himself and is so afloat that he wonders if he’ll even make it to 40. He can't help but notice the signs that Sophie is growing up fast: her subtle lip blush, her confidence, her worldly awareness, and the gnawing suspicion she’s more emotionally stable than he. She’s still a little girl, but the tide is definitely turning.
This is a good time to say that Aftersun is a quiet film, not an action thriller. In fact, Calum’s biggest problems are inaction and passive decision-making. Part of what we see on the screen comes from the 1990s style DV camera that Sophie uses to record her beach holiday with her dad. He’s the one who is camera shy, as we observe from Sophie’s attempts to interview him. Is it because he’s too empty to emote?
Mescal and Corio won praise for their performances and with good reason. What can you communicate from laying in the sun, rubbing on sunblock, and eating dinner? Quite a lot, but you need to read between the lines and have actors strong enough to send messages without appearing to do so. For example, Calum seeks to improve himself via Tai Chi, self-help books, meditation, and pop philosophy nostrums. The effort is earnest, but imagine the strain when results stall. Sophie, in turn, finds a group of slightly older kids and sits in on rambling banter about sex and romance. She’s not ready for any of that stuff, but she will experience her first non-parental kiss. She also comes away with the knowledge that her dad is a quiet mess who thinks she doesn’t know he smokes or drinks too much. She also realizes that he can’t afford his outward displays of affection, like replacing her lost snorkel mask, buying her sweet treats, the expensive Turkish rug he buys, or the vacation itself.
Eventually we learn that most of the tale we are seeing is the adult Sophie’s remembrance of that summer with her dad. Look for a symbol of what remains now that she’s grown, married, and has a child of her own. Notice also the film’s clever use of music to convey meaning. There is, for example, 11-year-old Sophie’s touching dance with dad to Queen/David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” and her letting loose at a rave as an adult. The score of the film works well throughout, so kudos to Oliver Coates for assembling a soundtrack that takes us from The Righteous Brothers to Blur by way of traditional Turkish music.
The film’s title ostensibly references Calum’s comment that he could never move back to Edinburgh and doesn’t want to be in London either. He insists he needs the sun. A metaphor? Yep!
What an impressive debut. In my estimation, Wells succeeded by keeping things manageable rather than aiming above her current reach. Hers is a name to watch, as I suspect is the name Frankie Corio. Aftersun is not a film that will make your heart race, but it might make it break.
Rob Weir
*This movie was rated R because we see Mescal’s naked butt and because of a few F- bombs from teenagers. Really!!? Blur the butt, delete the swears, and this movie is PG.
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