Film Review: AFTERSUN (2022): Charlotte Wells’ Powerful Film Will Move Viewers Emotionally With Its Strong Performances

Aftersun Review

Aftersun (2022) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Charlotte Wells and starring Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall, Kayleigh Coleman, Sally Messham, Harry Perdios, Ethan Smith, Ruby Thompson and Brooklyn Toulson.

With the new film, Aftersun, Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells has crafted a remarkable, powerful story of simplicity which is, ironically enough, full of complexity. That’s because the characters we are presented with are fascinating to watch thanks to the performances of the film’s leads, Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio who play off each other with amazing delicacy and hold the viewer’s attention in every major scene of Wells’ fascinating and moving new picture.

I am reminded a bit of Lost in Translation by some moments in Aftersun. That is tremendous praise that shouldn’t be taken lightly. The difference between the films, though, is that Lost in Translation was about two strangers (one a male and one a younger female) who meet and develop a bond. Aftersun is more focused on the emotional connection between a father named Calum and his young daughter, Sophie. Both movies are fantastic and exist in similar but also vastly different ways. Aftersun is set in the 1990’s and the time period is very accurately on display to the viewer thanks to the film’s soundtrack, the presence of a camcorder in the movie’s plot and just the overall look and feel of the film in general.

Frankie Corio’s Sophie is 11-years old for much of the character’s screen time in Aftersun. Paul Mescal, in a terrific piece of screen acting, is Calum, Sophie’s dad. The two have taken a vacation in Turkey together. Calum probably can’t afford to pay for it but the time they will spend together is so valuable that a price tag simply cannot be placed upon it. Celia Rowlson-Hall portrays Sophie when she is 20 years older than the 11-year old Sophie who is the subject of much of the film. Rowlson-Hall and Corio each capture the respective nuances of their character at different intervals of her life. The meaning of Sophie’s relationship with Calum takes on great significance in Sophie’s life at both of these given times.

I’m not going to sugarcoat the premise of Aftersun. The film is very metaphorical. The images of the father and daughter participating in given activities represent a bigger meaning than initially meets the eye. The movie isn’t concerned with spelling things out that may or may not be happening. As what typically happens in life, people engage with one another and enjoy each other’s company but the movie explores every aspect of that interaction both by what is displayed and, also, by what is not shown to the viewer. This film portrays a realistic connection between two people who are simply living their lives and trying to go with the flow. However, it is very difficult for Calum under his financial and emotional circumstances to simply enjoy what would be a completely different experience for someone without money problems.

Paul Mescal’s performance as Calum is raw, vulnerable and brilliant. It is virtually impossible for the viewer to not feel all his pain and passion at certain points in the movie thanks to the way Mescal creates his character on screen. He’s a young dad trying to make the most of his time with his daughter who will only be young once. He’s separated from Sophie’s mom and overwhelmed by life. Beside Mescal, Corio is a revelation adding layers to the character which makes Sophie quite intriguing to watch. Perhaps a karaoke scene in the film is what sparked my memory of Lost in Translation but Aftersun also digs very deep to show the vulnerabilities of its very uniquely portrayed characters.

Aftersun may be a movie that could divide viewers in certain ways because of its ambiguity yet it is impossible to not walk away from this film feeling as if it is making a truly thought-provoking statement on the human condition. Life is short but the moments we have shape our lives and are the pieces of our memories. Not every memory is positive and not every one is negative either.

You’d have to have lived under a rock to not relate to Sophie as she tries to experience life by her connections with others in the film. Particularly memorable is the brief turn of Brooklyn Toulson as the young Michael who interacts with Sophie in a way that feels authentic. Wells aptly captures the way their interaction would play out in real life.

The use of the R.E.M song “Losing My Religion” in the movie is certainly not unintentional and the movie is never able to make everything clear to the viewer which could be seen as a flaw to some viewers. Not to me. I am reminded of a quote from a completely different type of movie–David Lynch’s Lost Highway. That quote is “I like to remember things my own way. Not necessarily the way they happened.” Perhaps, the two central characters of Aftersun would like to remember things their own way and because of the looming in of the future, those memories will one day fade either through death or the passage of time. It’s a heart-wrenching thought. Aftersun is a movie that will not easily be forgotten.

Rating: 9/10

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