Writer/director Charlotte Wells is a critical darling on the strength of her first feature, with an evocative title that brings back memories of parental care; rubbing protective lotions into our charring skin is a vital part of a family holiday that most of us can remember. Carrying off various awards at high-profile film festivals, Aftersun may be a debut, but it’s hardly a film from nowhere; both the BBC and the BFI are involved, and one of the producers is Barry Jenkins, who won an Oscar for the similarly themed Moonlight.
The setting is a Turkish beach resort in the 90’s, where Sophie (Frankie Coriro) and Calum (Paul Mescal) are taking a break together; they arrive at their hotel room to find that there’s only one bed. When a camp bed arrives, the father generously allows his daughter the bigger bed, keeping the ‘tiney-winey’ bed for himself. That’s typical of the generally warm interactions here, as Calum acts in a careful and protective way towards his child, but Wells continually undercuts the atmosphere with indications that Calum is hiding his own personal suffering from his observant daughter.
While Aftersun is smartly enough observed to evoke generally nostalgic memories, with a breezy soundtrack featuring The Lightning Seeds, REM, Catatonia and Chumbawumba, the themes skew specifically towards personal development and embracing an awareness of LGBTQ+ issues. Sophie is pictured remembering her own sensual developments from the perspective of her being a mother in her 30’s (played by Celia Rowlson-Hall) and being in a lesbian relationship. ‘I think it’s nice that we share the same sky,’ says Sophie precociously to her father, but as a child, she can’t quite share or understand whatever his adult issues are. There are suggestions that Calum is unhappy within his own physicality and/or sexuality, and that he may be hiding suicidal thoughts from Sophie, but the audience are left to make up their own mind about what the point of Aftersun is.
If you can ignore the waves of non-stop critical tossery eulogising Aftersun, this is an auspicious debut, largely through Wells’ ability to get sensitive, natural performances from her leads, and through the fresh photography of Gregory Oke. Some of the pretentions, such as Calum’s possession of a book about Scottish film-maker Margaret Tait, feel forced and pretentious, but as a calling card for a developing film-maker, there’s no denying that Aftersun certainly marks Wells out as one to watch.
Not doing it for me either, nope.
Better to stick with the violent death quiz games…
More fun than Daddy Daughter on holiday whilst rewriting the language of movies movies!
Tomorrow I’ll be looking at Chevy Chase again! You’ll see the language of cinema rewritten as never before!
Sigh.
You have a problem with Chevy Chase?
You KNOW it!
This one just isn’t doing it for me. Especially if there’s no clear ending….I almost always hate that!
I wish I could think about it without AO Scott’s mind-grapes corroding my brain cells…I’m thinking of collecting atrociously pretentious reviews of this film and publishing as an end of year treat for readers. It’s a good film, yes, but it’s not a re-invention of cinema. It seems almost impossible for critics to praise something for what it actually is, rather than what they want it to be.
Och and begorrah laddie, I dinna ken how ye can say the wee lassie Tate’s inclusion felt forced. Ye mighta say ye own bairns are rubbish as to say such fash things about Tate. Shame on ye…
Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame…..
Not even sure if the book shown was published in the time period of the film, but appreciate your concern. You’d probably enjoy Two Witches more than this…
I can’t believe you said “Two Witches” I’d just about gotten that out of my mind!!!!!!!!!!
I’m now enjoying some private correspondance with the Two Witches team, so once again, if anything happens to me, you know where to direct the authoritires…
That sounds pretty bad. I will gladly take your word for it…
The Rescuers Down Under will always be there for you….
Thank goodness for Old Reliable…
“the audience are left to make up their own mind about what the point of Aftersun is.”
I can’t even figure what it’s about, aside from a family taking a holiday.
A quick look at wikipedia should sort us out.
New York Times movie critic A.O. Scott described the film as “astonishing and devastating,” writing that “Wells, with the unaffected precision of a lyric poet, is very nearly reinventing the language of film, unlocking the medium’s often dormant potential to disclose inner worlds of consciousness and feeling…’
So there! This film is making and remaaking itself while you watch, dissembling space and time, reconstituting your very bones on a cellular level. What’s wrong with you that you can’t appreciate this? Amateur!
Gack. That’s awful. Scott should feel dirty.
I felt dirty reading it. Having been hearing about this film non-stop since Cannes, there’s a wave of waffle which really takes away from its genuine positive qualities. I found this phenomena with Moonlight as well. In the rush to over-praise a small film, the virtues get drowned in self-seeking adulatory praise; I notice that audience reaction on RT is far more muted….
To be fair, I said almost the exactly the same thing about C.H.U.D. when it came out. But I was young.
I remember your piece about it. Very persuasive. In the mood for Chevy Chase?
I paid homage to the Chevster today by including a pic from Candyshack in the quiz.
Caddysnack, surely?
You can buy Caddysnacks at the Candyshack.
Badumph. Ok, I’ll delay the Chase until Sunday, keep you hungry!
Feel free to delay it longer if that helps…
See my other note and despair. Chase review premiere cancelled.
Hurray! It’s a miracle….
I hereby Buntyize both of you for making fun of one if the WP4…
Can you buy BuntyBars in NH?
I’ve never seen them. I thought bunty was a Scottish thing since only Dix uses the term.
Or is my sheltered life leading me astray?
I wasn’t making fun of fraggle for spelling caddy shack wrong, I was berating Alex for accepting it as a correct answer.
We have bounty bars, not Bunty bars.
And Alex has ruined tomorrows Chevy Chase surprise, so you address your ire to him. He’s spoiled it for everyone! No Chevy Chase for anyone!
Yellow card for lying to the ref.
Chartreuse card for having bounty hunter bars.
All is forgiven! No cards for anyone….
What about Christmas Cards?
Game paused while refs confer….
* Tweeeeeeet *
No Christmas Cards on this blog. If seen, all involved will be ejected from the game….
Right, this is MY blog, cards are my responsibility, and it’s a YELLOW card for you for time wasting!
Rats.
I was hoping you’d forget it was your blog….
Psychic Grandma reminded me.
I knew it, I knew it, I knew. She is always stabbing me in the back….
If you turn around, she’ll stab you in the front for good measure. Have you thought about turning to the side?
Sigh, there’s just no winning against Psychic Grandma.
Even if I turn sideways, she’ll probably just use an extra long knife to go all the way through 🙁
How did you know that?
After decades under her murderous tutelage, I know a thing or two about how she operates!
She will be surprised to hear this, but you called her out and you called her out good!
Nothing surprises her, nothing.
I just got a card in the mail from her, congratulating me on calling her out :-/
When I spoke to her, she said she had no plans to send you any cards in the mail. I offered her your address, but she was confident she wouldn’t be needing it. It was not an eventually that she could have foreseen. She seemed blindsided by events.
Awwwww, you’re just saying that to make me feel better.
But I do appreciate it….
She says you have totally outfoxed her, exceeded any expectation or preconceptions she had. It’s all been a very unpredictable turn of events.
Well, it’s about time I passed my final exam. I too am now a certified Psychic Uncle….
You can see the future before the rest of us. Well, bedtime beckons. Looks like you got the best of the old dear this time!