Synopsis

The stunning debut from Scottish writer-director Charlotte Wells, Aftersun juxtaposes a hopeful coming-of-age story with a poignant, intimate family portrait that leaves an indelible impression. At a fading vacation resort in the late 1990s, 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) treasures rare time together with her loving and idealistic father, Calum (BAFTA winner Paul Mescal, Normal People). As a world of adolescence creeps into view, beyond her eye Calum struggles under the weight of life outside of fatherhood. Twenty years later, Sophie’s tender recollections of their last holiday become a powerful and heartrending portrait of their relationship, as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t, in Charlotte Wells’ superb and searingly emotional debut film.

Winner of the French Touch Jury Prize at the Cannes 2022 Critics’ Week and the Grand Prize at the Deauville American Film Festival

Critics Views

“With remarkable confidence, [Wells] just lets her movie unspool naturally, like a haunting and deceptively simple short story. The details accumulate; the images reverberate; the unshowy gentleness of the central relationship inexorably deepens in importance.”
The Guardian

“Aftersun flows like a fondly remembered memory that’s been replayed endlessly, as if trying to find an important detail that might explain what happened. The easy pace of Wells’s direction brings out the best in her central performers, and the chemistry between Mescal and Corio plays out effortlessly. The light moments between them are warm and the darker ones linger heavily.”
Time Out

“That a director can summon such emotional maturity paired with grand narrative originality in her first outing, particularly working from a deeply personal standpoint, astounds. Wells, a forward-thinking artist, invites into a vortex of feelings and sensations that fully exploits the language of cinema for its gorgeously humanistic pursuit.”
The Wrap

“Wells’ debut is a frankly astonishing work which will leave a lasting impression.”
Cinevue

Film Rating

IMDb
 Critics: 95%  Audience 77%

Rotten Tomatoes
Critics positive review 95%   Audience Liked It 88%

 Stockbridge Audience Score: 61%

Audience Comments

Apart from the fact that this was about a divorced father and his young daughter on holiday together and that the father suffered bouts of depression, there was no hint until halfway through that this was in fact a retrospective by the grown-up daughter. I hated all the flashing camera work and magnified close-ups which seemed meaningless and at times nauseous. If this was a work of art as claimed, it was too obscure to have any meaning for me. I’m afraid I’m with the ‘pretentious claptrap’ brigade.
Without the programme notes I was struggling to understand some aspects of the film. It was well acted but the flashbacks and father’s mental health issues were unexplained. There was much to enjoy in the happy father/ daughter relationship but the brooding threat of danger was never realised or revealed. Interesting but slightly frustrating!
Disappointing- plot non existent – same all way through – it needed some tension or conflict to add interest. Thought young girl was superb but not sure how Paul Mescal won best actor for this.
Speech often unintelligible, dazzling jumping screen very trying on the eyes. No shape to drama,
Drifted off a little in the middle – lots was left unexplained (presumably intentionally), so I lost engagement.
Beautifully made, but slow. From the write up I kept anticipating the switch to Sophie aged 30 for the second half of the film.
Slightly odd and difficult to make sense of it at times.
Despite it capturing something of a child’s view of the adult who is their dad, the film didn’t have the cohesion and visual richness needed for two hours of absolutely nothing happening. If there is barely 10 minutes of dialogue, you should be able to hear it all, and often it was muttered and mumbled with the ( after the first few times) irritating pretend terrible home movie style adding to the mess. Oh dear
Not easy to score as not a film style that is to my taste. The concept is interesting, fragmented memory etc, but I like a bit more structure to make me care about the characters. The child’s role was crucial but I found close shots of her face irritating. Accents were tricky at times too as dialogue is important to me.
Too out of focus for me
Beautifully made but very slow
A film for aficionados well appreciated internationally. many of the points made in the on line review did not come across clearly
I wasn’t quite as taken with the film as I had expected from the rave reviews, but I did enjoy it
Some of the cinematography was absolutely exceptional, though it was a bit slow in places.
This is just the kind of film that gets overlooked by mainstream cinemas and yet beats all the blockbusters … thoughtful and beautifully directed
Very original content, I can see why it would be an award winner. Due to the multiple camera feeds and sketchy plot, the presentation was somewhat difficult to engage with. Great soundtrack!
In parts speech unintelligible, difficulty in following plot