Aftersun

Well - giving Aftersun a second watch was a rather emotional experience. In the interim I'd learned that this debut from Charlotte Wells is an autobiographical tale - something that you can kind of pick up on while watching the movie without even knowing it. Although we don't know exactly what happened to Calum (Paul Mescal) and his 11-year old daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) outside of the time-span of the movie in any detailed or specific way, it's easy enough to learn outside of it that Charlotte Wells herself didn't live with her father growing up, and that he died when she was 16-years old. That would make any look back upon times they shared together particularly poignant and as she gets older those memories will be revered. Wells calls the film "emotionally autobiographical", which makes it unclear just how much the events in the movie correspond with real life, but what that must mean is that the feelings you get from watching the film are an accurate reflection of her real-life relationship with her father, and the actual events don't matter as much. In any case, the events in the film by themselves don't amount to much - it's the tapping of those emotions that makes it great.

In the film we watch Calum and Sophie go to a seaside Turkish resort for a holiday - just the two of them together. Some of this we see through video footage, which an adult Sophie is watching - now living with her partner and child. You can see that it means a great deal to her. Throughout the movie we see fantasy sequences where an adult Sophie is at a rave with the version of Calum that she knew as a young child - and that the two are completely separated from each other. They find it hard to really know each other deep down, or communicate in an emotionally open manner. 11-year old Sophie doesn't know that her father is depressed. The normal, average, everyday events that the two go through - dinners at restaurants, playing pool, swimming etc., are all charged with the manner in which Calum tries to hide from Sophie his anxiety, stress, sadness and anger - it's very important for him to not infringe on their time together by revealing this. In the meantime, perhaps because of the way Calum is holding back, the two find it hard to connect - although it also has to be noted that the love the two have for each other is full and requited.

There are two large moments of disconnect that live on in Sophie's memory. The first is when there's a karaoke night, and although Calum and Sophie often do a version of R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" together the latter is surprised to be knocked back even though Sophie has entered them into the line-up. Calum is far too mentally anguished to go up in front of a large crowd of people, so all he can do is look on as poor Sophie braves it herself, hoping to force Calum up onto the stage with her by purposely battling under the glare alone - but not even this can move him. It has to have been embarrassing for Sophie, and her anger shows when she refuses to go in for an early night with her father - leading to a night alone for Calum with his demons and Sophie her young adventurous and observational spirit. The second moment of disconnect is when Calum dances to Queen/David Bowie's "Under Pressure" alone, and Sophie watches - the lyric "this is our last dance" playing in her mind over and over, possibly because it was the last time she'd ever see her father dance.

Paul Mescal would be nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of Calum, and I really saw it in all it's glory the second time I watched the film. It's not easy for an actor to both show something and hide it at the same time, while getting an audience to really believe in what he or she is doing. At the same time his relationship with young Sophie/Frankie was extraordinarily sweet and loving, which is another duality that's hard to pull off - the fact that the two love each other so much while at the same time not being able to connect and share their true inner selves. It must be harder when the mother/father and child are estranged, and I can't pretend to know what that must be like. Calum also hides his smoking from Sophie, although I'd reckon on her knowing her Dad smokes - because it's something that I would have picked up on as a kid. Frankie Corio is also very good as Sophie - Wells picked her out from 800 other applicants for the part - a carefully chosen piece of casting that worked out perfectly well.

I don't think it's a particular spoiler to talk about how the film ends, but be warned I'm about to. One of the final images in Aftersun we get is that of Calum having said goodbye to Sophie in a spectral version of the airport the two actually said goodbye to each other at. He walks down a passageway, and disappears back into the rave we often get a minds-eye look into. That empty passage, and disappearance, along with the sounds and context this is placed into was an overwhelmingly emotional moment that connected me with the people I've lost during my life. They disappear just like that - into an unreachable void after drifting away. Behind a forever-closed door. It was such a good choice from writer/director Charlotte Wells, and managed to tell us a lot with just a simple mental image. It was such a powerful moment in the film, put forward with simplicity but much thought and meaning. It got way past my defenses, and even though (or maybe because) I've seen the film before it surprised me. I felt it, which means it was great filmmaking.

Overall, the rest of the film is subtle and really from Sophie's point of view - she's at that difficult age where she's far too young for adult type stuff, but way too old for childish games and being treated differently. She's mature enough to tend towards gravitating towards the teenagers at the resort she's staying at. This all ought to mean that Sophie and Calum can open up a bit - but it is more difficult to do that with a parent, and here we've got an estranged one at that. Without any siblings or friends around, it feels like Sophie is lonely - and Calum looks lonely as well. The two miss an opportunity to talk about their loneliness, or anything really serious during the trip - they want to have fun, seeing as this is a holiday, but they also won't have many chances to really talk and get to know each other. It's an agonizing lost chance, and with hindsight a really important one that Sophie nevertheless always remembers with fondness and regret. I'm surprised Aftersun didn't manage a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. Avatar : The Way of Water could have easily made way for it. It's devastating, and an emotionally contemplative and superb movie.