Ronit J

Aftersun (2022) Synopsis:

Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories real and imagined fill the gaps between as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t.

Aftersun (2022) Review:

I had been meaning to watch Aftersun ever since I first saw it listed on my Mubi feed. Now that it’s listed in the NYT’s 100 best films of the 21st century list, I decided it was time to finally watch it.

Aftersun follows father Calum (Paul Mescal) and daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) as they go on a short vacation to have some father-daughter time. Split between regular cinematic visuals and raw camcorder footage, the film feels like a memoir recounting a vacation whose memory is slowly fading. The focus remains on the relationship of Sophie’s eagerness to bond with her father whilst tackling the onset of adolescence. On the other hand, we also see Calum’s imperfect self struggling to uphold his facade of a parent who has it all together.

A Complex Father-Daughter Relationship

Aftersun is the kind of film you expect to watch at a film festival. It has a strong visual and aesthetic vibe that discards narrative tension and progress in favour of character study and reflective indulgence. The film’s story can be told in two simple lines: 1) Father and daughter go on vacation, 2) Daughter recounts vacation, grasping for that lost/strained relationship.

However, there is a whole lot more to that second statement than is apparent at first glance.

The film starts out as any regular father-daughter family drama, albeit with an auteur treatment. The film spends long takes of seemingly mundane visuals where characters discuss the inane aspects of their lives. But, those very personal details hold the key to understanding the complex nature of this father-daughter relationship. This might seem like a normal trip, but it’s far from it.

As the film progresses, we learn that Calum is separated from Sophie’s mother. He’s single, has money problems, and seemingly even struggles with substance abuse—even if he might have it under control in front of his daughter. The random and jarring shots of Calum dancing at a rave party hint at a sinister future for him. One that puts a strain on the very relationship that we see, but a tiny chapter of, in this film.

Sophie, on the other hand, feels very true to a young girl on the brink of adolescence. She is mature enough to hold a facade to her troubled father—as is common for kids from broken households. But the fragility of this maturity makes itself apparent in that one scene in the future where Sophie wakes up having a panic attack.

Boredom as an Aesthetic

As I mentioned, this kind of film is quite common to see at a film festival. Not everyone might appreciate this ‘boredom as an aesthetic’ treatment. But, this treatment was one of the main reasons why I liked the film. Because it doesn’t just rely on the stylistic to be heard. It actually shows and tells a lot more than is made apparent.

The languid atmosphere of this vacation resort serves as the bedrock for all the emotional shipwrecks that follow after. Like the Titanic’s final moments, this vacation is Sophie’s final memory of her father. Given that it also transpires at an important biological period of her life, she cherishes this episode as much as she struggles to make sense of it. The lazy scenes accommodate reflection, encourage it even.

Watching this film made me reflect on my own adolescence. While I didn’t have anything remotely similar in my childhood, I could relate to the scenes where Sophie, the kid, had to be the adult while Calum, the adult, acted out like a child. The more I reflect on this film, the more I realise how many clues there were right from the beginning. Calum is clearly dealing with something. Depression? Anxiety? Self-doubt? Something worse? We never really find out, but it’s clear he’s just human.

And this flawed human is in charge of his kid, who, in turn, displays an unnatural maturity for her age. Adults applaud such obedience and precocity without realising the adverse effects of it in later life.

The film hints at something worse that followed this vacation, but never confirms the exact details. The film’s reflective nature combined with the lack of closure serves to make this film an emotional trauma in cinematic form.

Aftersun (2022) Ending Explained (SPOILERS)

The film ends with Calum dropping Sophie off at the airport. From there, he turns and walks to the end of the corridor. The doors there open to a rave, which he enters. The doors swing shut, and we are left to reflect upon the journey that was.

In my interpretation, this vacation was the last time Sophie and Calum had a father-daughter relationship. While Sophie moved on with her life, grew up and became an arguably functional adult in a healthy relationship, Calum had the opposite reaction. Calum, who clearly was struggling throughout the film, eventually succumbed to his darkness. From picking up discarded cigarettes for a final drag, he eventually ended up abusing substances to forget his many troubles.

All this probably led to Sophie and Calum never having a relationship again. Even if they tried, Calum’s problems prevented Sophie from being a child with him, eventually leading to her facing her own issues. We get a glimpse of that as she wakes up in a panic.

Did Calum die? Did he kill himself? Or did he just fade away from Sophie’s life? We never find out. And we don’t need to. Because regardless of what Calum’s fate was, we know that his actions led to his absence in Sophie’s life. And a parent’s absence, especially one who used to be a good parent, but eventually became flawed, can result in some difficult-to-grasp emotional turmoil that can result in the child developing emotional and psychological issues.

Aftersun is Sophie’s attempt at making sense of who her father was, why he did what he did, and her reflection of her pre-adolescence.

Side note: I read on Reddit that ‘Aftersun’ is also a lotion that soothes sunburns, so the film could also be read as Sophie’s healing process.

Is Aftersun (2022) worth watching?

Yes. But, this film is not for everyone.

If you like festival films with strong aesthetics that could be slow and languid, then you’ll love this film. If not, I’d skip Aftersun.

In Conclusion:

Aftersun (2022) is a beautifully tragic film about remembering, about parent-children relationships, and the fragility of the human condition that struggles to make sense of it all.

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