It’s not so easy to come across small and mighty movies. Those that leave us thinking for a long time and on which we have to reflect for some time to finish making sense of them in our heads. But that is precisely what the director charlotte wells achieved with his first feature film aftersun.
After wowing the industry with his short films, Wells launched into the big leagues with aftersun, a personal and powerful story that not only received critical acclaim, but also several distinctions during its passage through the main film festivals. It is currently available on streaming and we tell you why you can’t stop watching it.
aftersun takes us into the story of Sophie, an 11-year-old girl who goes on vacation with her father Calum to Turkey in the late 90s. The film wastes no time delving into the lives of these characters, rather they are the small pieces of information and the events that are developing in the story that makes us put together the puzzle.
Sophie’s parents are separated, which we can assume is due to her parents’ young age. Calum is not quite 30 years old and is often mistaken for Sophie’s older brother. We also discover that they do not live together, since the little girl lives with her mother in Scotland, while her father lives elsewhere in England.
As the story progresses we see that Sophie is a very intelligent girl for her age and that she is trapped in that complex pre-adolescent stage, where she is no longer a child but not an adult either. However, her curiosity and her desire to reach her maturity is a ghost that surrounds her daily. During her stay at her resort we see her interact with some children her age, as well as some teenagers.
For his part, Calum is a man plagued with many nuances and shadows. His calm and tranquility hide something much deeper that threatens to take over his being every minute and against which he fights so that it does not happen. Or at least to hide it from Sophie’s gaze.
the rest of the movie it’s a superimposition of images and sequences that we can make sense of once the film comes to an end. Especially during the last 30 minutes, which result in a brutal and revealing final sequence.
As the film progresses we see that it is much more than just a portrait of a father and daughter relationship. Rather, it is a story about memory, loss, pain and depression.
During the holidays we see Calum and Sophie recording images through a video camera, which aims to capture the moments of happiness between this father and his daughter. But these images will take on a new meaning for the adult Sophie, who through her recordings and memories comes to understand what she could not as a child.
The tension between fantasy and reality are constantly superimposed, forcing the viewer to put the pieces together. Once the film is finished, it is impossible not to go back to certain moments and remember the hidden clues that help us to see the photograph as a whole and as it is.
A separate applause goes to Paul Mescal Y Frankie Corio, the young interpreters in charge of taking the story forward. Mescal, who had his big debut in the series normal people, dazzles with his performance as Calum. An idealistic young man who tries to overcome his miserable existence. Despite the financial difficulties he faces and with no clear direction in life for him, he does everything possible to give Sophie the best vacation of her life, while he hides a deep depression against which he fights daily.
And Frankie Corio who is the great revelation of this tape. The little actress manages to play Sophie naturally and effortlessly, as if her presence in front of the camera was the most natural thing in the world.
The cinematography and music of aftersun They also deserve your recognition. Gregory Oke’s director of photography plays perfectly with different image formats and colors that evoke the feelings and emotions of the protagonists. For his part, the composer Oliver Coates achieves the same on a musical level, who plays one of the decisive roles in the story and whose musical selection puts words to everything that the protagonists cannot express.
aftersun is not only a drama that evokes the power of memories and loss, but rather takes a painfully honest look at mental illness. Through the eyes of a child and then through her adulthood, reaching an understanding of that person. For Wells this was a deeply personal and emotional adventure that arose from looking at an album of photos from when she was little and went on vacation in Spain.
aftersun is available on platform MUBI for all Latin America and the United States.
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Aftersun: the emotional drama about a father and a daughter that you cannot miss streaming