I dare say that ‘Aftersun‘ is a formidable feature debut from somebody I predict will become a great movies director. It was made in 2022 and Charlotte Wells, the writer and director of the film, is 35 years old. Her film tells an apparently very simple story, but in reality it is a complex film, whose hidden and multiple meanings begin to reveal themselves to the viewer only after the screening is over. I can only hope that the promise of the immense talent she demonstrates here will materialize into films at least as good in the future.
Calum, a young divorced father, takes his 11-year-old daughter on holiday in Turkey. Sophie lives with her mother, and this ‘low cost’ holiday with her dad seems to be part of the parents’ divorce settlement. Father and daughter spend their summer days in a way that seems mundane and familiar to those who have spent such vacations under the Mediterranean sun – swimming in the sea and in the pool, games of billiards, and excursions during the day, restaurants with music and karaoke in the evenings. Gradually we begin to understand that something is different in the relationship between father and daughter, but also in the way the story is told. At first glance, Calum seems like an ideal father, his only flaw perhaps being that he tries to give too much to his daughter. As the minutes pass on the screen and the days in the story, we begin to understand, from accumulated details and allusions, that something is different in the father’s person and in the relationship with his daughter. His material possibilities seem limited and Sophie is aware of this. The father tries to give her some life lessons that seem too definitive for an 11-year-old pre-teen. And the narrative style changes its focus. Viewers realize that they are seeing the story from the perspective of mature Sophie, many years later, and that this holiday may have been the last time father and daughter spent together. Something happened in the meantime, but nothing is explained. Spectators will have to complete the script.
‘Aftersun‘ needs to be seen and maybe re-watched (I haven’t yet) to perceive, analyze and validate all the nuances and hidden details. It’s also a beautiful film, but it’s a strange and slightly dangerous beauty. The two actors who play the main roles are stunning, individually and especially together. Paul Mescal‘s Calum is a man in crisis, but this crisis is not visible on the surface, as the story is told from the daughter’s perspective. Frankie Corio was 11 years old when ‘Aftersun‘ was filmed and the role of Sophie is that of an 11-year-old girl, faced with the questions and anxieties of pre-adolescence, discovering the world around her and keeping her childhood candor. I hope that she will become a great actress. As grown-up viewers, however, we know how dangerous the world around her is, and that adds to the tension with which we watch the film. The cinematography (signed by Gregory Oke) is beautiful and expressive, constantly serving the director’s ideas. ‘Aftersun‘ is also a personal film, perhaps related to the biography and experiences of the director or some people close to her. There is the danger of repetition, the need to avoid the trap of making the same film again and again. It’s one of the many obstacles Charlotte Wells will have to overcome in order to realize the immense promise this film heralds.