‘Aftersun’ is a drama that follows Sophie and her father Calum, as she reflects on a childhood vacation the two had taken together twenty years earlier. Revisiting the shared private joy, Sophie re-examines who her father was through old video recordings and memories.
Vacationing at a beach resort in Turkey, Sophie celebrates her 11th birthday with her farther. The two enjoy the sun poolside and are shown appreciating each others company. A curious and intelligent girl, Sophie contemplates her own coming of age as she overhears two teens talk about sex.
Even though the two are shown having fun, Sophie can sense a distance between herself and her father. Amicably separated from Sophie’s mother, Calum maintains a companionable front even though Sophie can sense he is dealing with issues she might not understand.
On one occasion, as the two go scuba diving, Sophie loses her scuba mask, upsetting her father. Even though Calum tries not to show it, Sophie confronts him about it. On another occasion, Calum and Sophie go to a rug merchant where Calum declines to purchase a rug he likes because of the cost. Later, returning to the merchant without Sophie, Calum buys the rug.
With Sophie sensing her father is troubled, Calum is surprised by how perceptive his daughter is, causing him to stoop deeper into self-examination, inadvertently causing him to become more melancholy.
On their last evening together Sophie and Calum head back to their room. On their way there, they come across a dance floor and share a dance to ‘Under Pressure’ allowing the two to connect one last time. The following day at the airport, Calum films the two bidding farewell as Sophie heads back to her mother.
Intercalated through the film are scenes of strobe-lit dance sequences, with the now thirty-one year old Sophie looking on into the distance at Calum as he dances. Sophie tries to get closer to Calum with each progressive sequence until she finally reaches him and pushes him over.
Now, Sophie re-examines who her father was as she watches the videos they had made on the holiday twenty years ago, seemingly coming to terms with who her father was and understanding his struggles in adulthood.
Deeply touching, ‘Aftersun’ invites the viewer to contemplate Sophie and Calum’s relationship by allowing us to become part of their most private shared moments. Exploring the relationship though ostensibly unimportant and mundane activities, the film follows how the father-daughter relationship develops through oftentimes uneasy interactions.
Wiser than she looks, Sophie, played by Frankie Corio, embodies a curious and investigative spirit, discovering a lot about herself and understanding the limitations to understanding her father. The distance that she feels is maintained by Calum, played by Paul Mescal, serves as a constant barrier between the two, disallowing for a genuine and deeper connection to be formed. Both Corio and Mescal provide for a genuine and heartfelt performance, delivering their best when on screen together.
Examined from Sophie’s perspective, the film doesn’t bar from discovering Calum’s worries. As he maintains a distance from his daughter by not wanting to overburden her with his worries, Sophie chooses to review her memories and the videotapes favouring the notion that her father was himself burdened by adulthood pressures, both financial and personal. Even though it is never set in stone as to what exactly worries Calum, Mescal surpasses the need for an exact answer and infuses a palpable sense of anxiety into the film once left alone with his thoughts.
The closing scenes of the film tie together beautifully Sophie’s inner turmoil and her coming to terms with who her father is. Seemingly no longer a part of her life, after having revisited the vacation they shared all those years ago, illustrated through the strobe-lit rave, Sophie expresses her anger towards her father, yet manages to reach a point of understanding, accepting her father’s struggles and appreciating the notion of adulthood struggles.
‘Aftersun’ provides for a very intimate and poignant look at the moments real and possibly altered by illusions of past memories, as Sophie learns to understand her father’s inability to form a meaningful connection with her. Deeply stirring, the film delivers a slice-of-life look at young Sophie and Calum, and at the same time examines those memories when Sophie comes to terms with what everybody has to eventually, - that our parents are people with issues, not always perfect and not always able to navigate their lives well.
Touching and melancholy, ‘Aftersun’ combines a coming of age story with the eventual fallout that Sophie has to ruminate on, providing for reflection and examination of both her father's and her own adulthood, the choices she has made and where it has lead her.
Score: 4/4
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