Aftersun : Charlotte Wells’s breathtaking depiction of father-daughter relationship is worthy to be remembered,

This year’s award season was quite a wild ride ranging from Everything Everywhere at all once to  Quiet Along the Western Front.  Among these Aftersun got into limelight. Charlotte Wells’s debut movie starring Paul Mescal got quickly into the names and after watching it I clearly see why this got so much acclaim. Even at times I feel it deserves more recognition considering the impact the whole cinema does.

Aftersun is a slice of life story about a holiday trip of Calum (Paul Mescal) spending time with his daughter Sophie ( Frankie Corio) in Turkey of whose moments are recorded in MiniDV Camera by Sophie at times. The film traverses along all various topics of discussions between dad and his daughter. Calum is separated from Sophie’s mother and he is going through a financial crisis in his life. This is depicted in various ways throughout the film and also even Sophie realizes this at times. In the beginning, when they both go to Scuba diving, Sophie loses the mask and Calum is seen to be disappointed on it leading Sophie to comfort him. Afterwards, Calum does mention his condition of between jobs but he tries to be optimistic to Sophie. The subtle depressive tone gets clearer when Calum mentions to Scuba diver fellow that he is 30 but not sure if he is going to reach 40 or so. 

Sophie personally is growing up and she is also playing games with teens of her age. She is experiencing romanticism and love and experiencing the usual adolescent issues. She is seen to be hanging out with teens who are into parties and is seen to experiencing the new phase of life. Calum is seen supporting her and letting her experience while guiding her too. She tells her father about kissing a guy along the swimming pool later in the day. Sophie really loves recording a lot of fun stuffs with her father and enjoying her best times. The film really takes time in each conversations and making it very relatable to people in general. The movie also shows a conflicted moment where Sophie urges Calum to join for Karaoke but Calum refuses to join leading him to head back to hotel room. This scene does get very important as it shows how father and daughter cope up with themselves. Sophie hangs out with her new friends in the hotel lobby and enjoying her time while Calum goes to take a dive in the sea at night to get over his thoughts. We also see a scene of him crying in the hotel room alone with letters scattered addressing to Sophie. The day after the argument, it is Calum’s birthday and Sophie celebrates by making the tourists sing “For he is a Jolly Good Fellow” to Calum while they are sight seeing. 

The film at times switches back to different timeline where we see adult Sophie reminiscing these memories along with her wife and child via the recordings she takes. Time has gone by and presumably Calum is no more (one can also interpret this as maybe he committed suicide considering his depression). From the starting scene and along with many scenes in middle, we see adult Sophie approaching Calum in a rave with flickering lights in between. This scene is open to interpretation but to me it stroke as Sophie reimagining herself uniting with his dad as she is also an adult like he was that time and be more caring towards her dad. She does miss him. 

Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio have acted remarkably. The movie itself would not have been so impactful if the acting was not so realistic and natural. It did indeed feel that they were actually a family. The flawless conversations with that love between them just makes you curious on this lovely bonding. This feeling gets escalated with the amazing landscape in Turkey, the hotel views. Clearly the cinematography style was more from a vintage 80s and 90s  which was a nice touch to the atmosphere created. 

Overall, Aftersun was a very emotional film which makes you ponder on your personal life in depths. It makes you realize that we should make the people important in our life lovable and comfortable so that they are free to express their feelings and help them in their need. People in general are very scared of showing their vulnerability as of being judged. Being non judgmental is key to help people around. The world could be a better place if mental health is discussed upfront without any sort of hindrance.

If you get some time to watch a beautiful heartwarming film, aftersun is right up your alley.