#celia rowlson hall

[shesnake]

Aftersun (2022) dir. Charlotte Wells

[mylegendaryicons]

[lamiaprigione]

Aftersun (2022)

[scenesandscreens]

Aftersun (2022)

Director - Charlotte Wells, Cinematography - Gregory Oke

"I think it’s nice that we share the same sky."

[filmstoic]

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.

[nirbanox]

Aftersun (2022)

Directed by Charlotte Wells

[laserpinksteam]

Film after film: Aftersun (dir. Charlotte Wells, 2022)

This emotionally devastating, beautifully shot and edited first film by Wells is spotless in its delivery. It's quiet and slow-flowing, with its sparkliest elements pertaining to stylistic flourishes. Mescal and Corio deliver the best performances of the year (2022, that is, I am experiencing a massive delay here!).

[rookie-critic]

Aftersun (2022, dir. Charlotte Wells) - review by Rookie-Critic

Aftersun analyzes the power of memory and how we perceive people versus how they really are. The film is from the point of view of a daughter looking back on a vacation she had with her dad when she was a kid, watching the videos her & her dad made off of an old camcorder while they were there. To get the obvious out of the way, Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio, who play the father and daughter, are a lightning rod of a duo. They play off of each other in a way that, if you weren't aware you were watching a movie, you would legitimately feel like you're just watching a daddy-daughter vacation. Their relationship feels so natural and fluid. In fact, the entire film feels so natural and fluid. It's a film that barely feeds the audience anything concrete, and yet, everything about the film and what it's conveying is crystal clear. It never tells you anything about where the daughter, Sophie, is in her adult life (it barely ever cuts to adult Sophie at all), or where her relationship with her father went after the events of their vacation, but you can feel the heartbreak. You can feel the remorse of things not said, actions not taken, more not done, without a word ever being spoken to that fact. Callum, the father, never has this big monologue moment where he spills everything that's going on with him, we don't really get to see him converse with anyone but his daughter outside two or three very short instances. Everything you need to know about him, and about her, is given in context: a look, the way a sentence is phrased, a quiet moment, it's all just suggestions, but they all come together by the film's end to paint what, in my opinion, is a very clear and complete picture of the nature of their relationship to one another, and where they both went past the point where the film ends.

Director Charlotte Wells weaves a beautiful tapestry with the cinematography here, framing the settings in a way that feels incredibly interpersonal, matching the tone of the script. For a debut feature, the amount of abstract blended with the real is tasteful and artfully done, impressively reserved and giving just the right amount of vaguely surreal. There are these amazing sequences of adult Sophie wandering around the strobing dancefloor of this abyssal nightclub (STROBE WARNING for my photosensitive and epileptic peeps out there) that, out of context and on the surface, don't make a ton of sense, but within the confines of this story make complete sense, and one in particular is possibly one of the most beautiful moments of film 2022 has given us. This is an absolutely heartbreaking movie. At a certain point about 25-to-30 minutes away from the end of the film, once it had given enough context clues and info for me to piece together what the significance of this vacation was, I don't think I stopped crying (more like full on ugly sobbing) until I was in my car going home. It's the kind of film that, if you have a good relationship with your parents, makes you want to call them and tell them you love them. It's a wonderful, beautiful, curl-up-into-a-ball-and-cry heartbreak of a film, and one that, if you can handle sad, I implore you to watch.

Score: 10/10

Currently available to rent or purchase on digital (iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, etc.).

[genevieveetguy]

Aftersun, Charlotte Wells (2022)

[stuff-diary]

Aftersun

Movies watched in 2023

Aftersun (2022, UK/USA)

Director & Writer: Charlotte Wells

Mini-review:

What a lovely movie. I went in only knowing that it starred Paul Mescal and it was about a little girl and his father on vacation, and I was very pleasantly surprised. It took me back to when I was the same age as the main character, to that time when things start getting confusing for you and when summers always felt so special and sort of magical. And yet, at the same time, the whole movie feels so melancholic and there's this low-key sadness that flows through it from beginning to end.

But, the thing that truly makes this movie one of a kind is the acting. Frankie Corio is simply phenomenal. I can't think of many peformances by child actors that show such incredible naturalness. There wasn't one fake expression or line delivery. This girl will go far, no doubt. And then there's Paul Mescal. We all know how good he is and Aftersun just confirms he's one of the biggest talents of his generation. Their chemistry is also incredible, I would absolutely belive if you told me they were father and daughter in real life. Also, the movie was shot in very interesting and refreshing ways, which makes me curious about Charlotte Wells' future work, cause this one doesn't feel like her first movie at all (in a good way).

[randomrichards]

AFTERSUN:

Daughter memories

Of one vacation with Dad

Hiding his struggles

[floorman3]

Aftersun Review

Father-daughter or father-son movies have been a genre that has usually had some good films. It is a genre that pulls at the heartstrings and brings out the emotions of the characters depicted in the movie. These types of films usually have dramatic moments or tough love that parents can give to their children. And of course, the opposite is that kids want more freedom to do what they want and at…

[sundaynightfilms]

Aftersun, 2022

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

Aftersun (Charlotte Wells, 2022)      

[enterfilm]

AFTERSUN (Charlotte Wells, 2022)

“Well, like... Sometimes at playtime, I look up at the sky and if I can see the Sun then... I think that the fact that we can both see the Sun, so even though we're not actually in the same place and we're not actually together... we kind of are in a way, you know? Like we're both underneath the same sky, so... kind of together”

[threefilmframes]

Charlotte Wells' Aftersun, 2022

This is our last chance

DoP: Gregory Oke