Aftersun

Aftersun is what we use to soothe ourselves. It also evokes an aftermath. This beautiful debut feature is set on an elegiac 1990s summer holiday at a Turkish package resort. We see events through the eyes of pre-teen Sophie (newcomer Frankie Corio), who is there with her soulful, doleful dad Calum (Paul Mescal). They share an easy bond, yet Calum may not be as ‘OK’ as he tries to appear. Aftersun expresses a complex tenderness that many of us feel but seldom can express in words. It’s one of the very best British films of 2022.

My parents were quite young when I was born and growing up my dad would often be mistaken for my brother. It always seemed a fun relationship to explore on film and when I was flipping through old holiday albums toward the end of film school, the idea began to take hold… Sophie and Calum have some ups and downs over the course of the trip, but their relationship itself isn’t a huge source of conflict. I wanted Calum to be a good father which felt in a lot of ways working against the absent father type. Calum is struggling in some facets of his life, but being a parent isn’t one of them.

Director Charlotte Wells, from an interview with Pauline Mallet