Zagreb Film Festival 2022: ‘Aftersun’ Review

Aftersun is a debut feature from writer/director Charlotte Wells. It won the French Touch Prize of the Jury at the the 2022 Cannes Film Festival where it premiered as part of International Critics’ Week. It was showing as part of the main programme at Zagreb Film Festival.

Somewhere at the midpoint of the movie Aftersun, I got pulled into its late afternoon daze. I stopped taking notes and lay back in my seat. Without realizing it or being able to resist it, I became part of a lazy family adventure alongside Calum and Sophie. Paul Mescal as the young father and Francesca Corio as his pre-teen daughter are an enchanting duo. Aftersun’s poignancy and success rests squarely on their shoulders.

Calum and Sophie travel to a Turkish resort for the summer. Although their trip begins idyllic enough, some cracks are already there but we won’t recognise them as such until later. Sophie is sweet and charming as a young girl learning to walk the tightrope between childhood overconfidence and teenage awkwardness. Unlike the forced intelligence and humour child characters usually show in American movies and TV, Sophie is delightful in trying to find a fitting place for herself in the world. It’s she is perpetually looking for clothes that will fit her. But by the time she finds them, she’s already outgrown them.

Calum is devoted but an imperfect father, which makes him easy to identify and sympathise with. He is a kind and sensitive character, but there is an elusive quality to him that permeates the entire film. As a parent, he tries to put on a brave face for his daughter, but she is becoming old enough to see through the cracks. She isn’t old enough yet; however, to be able to tell what it is that she sees. She tries again when she’s older – with a daughter of her own, to rummage through the videos filmed during their vacation. She wants to catch a glimpse of her father the person, but doesn’t seem to succeed any better than the first time round.

Sophie is on the nose with her observations, though. She complains to her mother that dad is being weird as usual. He dances on the balcony and does ninja moves in slow motion. She complains to him about overpromising things that he can barely afford and rarely deliver. And why does he say I love you to her mum when they aren’t together anymore? Her comments are endearing and incisive. Why is Calum so insistent on doing Tai Chi and why is he spending all his money on a summer holiday? Why does he snap so easily if everything is so perfect?

Writer and director Charlotte Wells is smart enough not to give us any clear answers. She sits older Sophie in front of a screen of her holiday videos like she sits the audience in front of Aftersun. Just like Sophie we can try and make an educated guess, but we need to learn to accept that we’ll never get a satisfying answer. Elusiveness is in many ways the theme the movie is actively exploring – the elusiveness of youth, of memory, relationships, happiness and ultimately of life and meaning. And it does so with warmth and compassion.