Aftersun (2022, R)

This film only received one Oscar nomination, a Best Leading Actor nod for Paul Mescal, but I thought the whole thing was beautifully done. While I can’t claim to understand it on every level, it’s a wonderfully emotional character study that left me contemplating it long after the credits rolled.

It’s the last week of summer, and Calum and Sophie are on holiday. Sophie lives with her mom, and although Calum certainly isn’t absent in her life, it’s clear that they don’t generally spend as much time together as either of them needs. As they tool around a Turkish resort, tease each other, argue, and connect with one another, we catch glimpses of the deeper things stirring under the surface of both characters.

The foremost reason to love this film is its depiction of the Calum-Sophie relationship, which is compellingly messy and dynamic. They plainly adore each other, that’s never in question. Calum is anxious for Sophie to have a great time and wants to fill her with as many fun memories and tidbits of fatherly wisdom as possible. Meanwhile, Sophie thinks the world of her dad and is excited to spend a week monopolizing his attention. I really like how tactile they are with each other, expressing love through hugs, nudges, cheeky imitations, helping each other with their sunscreen. They get up to all kinds of fond silliness together and Calum does have a little wisdom to impart, and all this father-daughter loveliness is preserved in the home videos they record during the holiday.

At the same time, though, little things creep in to sour things between them. Both are subject to low moods at different times, which cause them to snap at each other, especially when one is still in “fun holiday mode” and the other isn’t feeling it. Some of their conversations reveal how much they miss about each other’s lives when they aren’t around. Both have moments where they get their digs in with the other, and there are times when Sophie is left in uncertain situations because Calum is weighed down by his own struggles.

This makes the film captivating to watch. You’re constantly getting lulled into their good time and then getting pulled out by the next shift between them. Both Calum and Sophie are given private moments onscreen that prompt deeper questions about what’s going on in their heads. Through it all, we have a dad and daughter who love each other and are trying to pack all that love into a single week, but because of that, the stakes are so high that they both sometimes get it wrong. (though obviously this is more on Calum, since he’s the adult here.)

Paul Mescal does a terrific job as Calum—it’s a very understated, naturalistic performance that doesn’t tell you a ton about the character outright but reveals a lot of little hints between the lines. Meanwhile, Frankie Corio is both charming and earnest as Sophie. The two of them together create such a specific, complex dynamic between their characters, and their work makes the movie sing.

Warnings

Language, drinking/smoking, sexual references, and strong thematic elements.

Aftersun (2006)

 

Aftersun is another short TV movie, like Micky Love.  I think it makes for a very worthwhile hour – nice little film driven by thoughtfully-drawn characters and excellent performances.

 

Jim and Sue, high school sweethearts going on 20 years of marriage, have just become empty nesters.  For their anniversary, their children give them a two-week holiday in Spain (way to go – making the rest of us look bad!), but their relaxing time away quickly devolves into tense squabbling and hurt feelings.  Their next-door neighbors, a tirelessly passionate young couple, make them feel old and unloving, and as the days stretch on and the temperature rises, you start to wonder if their marriage will survive this getaway.

 

PC plays Jim.  Right from the get-go, he sours the idea of a vacation, constantly taking work calls and complaining about the inconvenience of being sent on holiday.  He exclusively wears “special” socks and hasn't had a new swimsuit since his honeymoon, he loves reading about World War II atrocities, and he has a “foreign voice” that he only uses when he's abroad, adopting a Yoda-like syntax in the hopes of being understood by non-English-speakers.  He's a little curmudgeonly, a little pedantic, and more than a little exasperating as a fellow traveler.

 

I really like this performance.  Aftersun is the type of story that lives and dies by its characters, and PC holds up his end quite capably.  Jim is a well-fleshed-out example of familiar husband/father archetypes, and PC is wholly believable in the role.  As he and Sue get more and more on each other's nerves, I just want to smack him for being so obtuse, but he also has a number of really honest moments where it's clear how much he loves Sue and how badly he wants his marriage to hold together.

 

Sarah Parish from Who’s “The Runaway Bride” also stars in this film.  She plays Sue and looks significantly less like a spider than she did on Who.

 

Accent Watch

 

Scottish.  

 

Recommend?

 

In General – I would; I liked this a lot.  The central characters are so round, and I think this little film is pretty well-made.

 

PC-wise – Very much so.  PC is excellent here, and he's one of the leads.

 

Warnings

 

A bit of swearing, light drug use, and some sexual discussion.  There's also a scene of naked swimming (you don't see anything) and a few banana-hammock appearances.