Rent Aftersun (2022)

Intimate and impressive father-child drama - Aftersun review by PD

This wonderful, subtle and delicate piece involves a depressive young dad at a Turkish resort with his pre-teen daughter, and anyone like me who has had to grab time, and maximise that time, with their young children after being separated from their partner will easily identify with the emotions he is going through - I left the film totally overwhelmed. Charlotte Wells’ highly sensitive film shows that no amount of play time and fruity drinks can keep either the past or future at bay. Paul Mescal is pitch-perfect at communicating an anxious, uneasy flipside to his casual, laddish charm, but its the remarkable duet between Mescal and 11-year-old Frankie Corio that carries the film as father and daughter reveal new, vulnerable facets of themselves to each other over the course of a tacky package holiday. There’s an edge of sibling-like complicity to their relationship, with their shared oddball jokes, loose conversational comfort with each other, and mutual resistance to patriarchal tradition, and this lends an additional urgency to the trip; it’s a chance for both Calum and Sophie to prove themselves to each other, showing off their responsibilities and capabilities, respectively. Wells’ taut script tells us little of Calum's life outside the immediate present, but stray asides and moments of solitary rumination — a fretful cigarette on the balcony when he thinks his daughter is asleep, a longing fixation on a Persian rug at a local market — hint at his unhappiness beneath the surface. Meanwhile, the perceptive Sophie notices some of her dad’s mood shifts, but is distracted with growing pains of her own, with boys showing an interest in her for the first time. With both father and daughter privately facing their own fears of getting older, there’s a sense that they may never share this innocent, breezy ease with each other again (in one brief, simple scene, her insecurities seep out during a brave-faced karaoke rendition of R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” — a few minutes that appear to age her by three years). Whilst all this is going on, the director flashes both backwards (Calum's past) and forwards (Sophie's future) in time with some skill. 'Aftersun' is about trying to square the intimacy of being cared for as a child with the perspective that comes with being an adult. It’s about wanting to reach across time, and to meet a loved one in an impossible space where, for once, you’re both on the same level, and you can finally understand them for who they are — or who they were. Very impressive stuff indeed.

Tedious waste of time - Aftersun review by JR

It has the trappings of an art house film with found film insets, and long silences, but the characters are not interesting and there is no plot. I stuck it out to the end, hoping something would happen or some insight would become apparent, but nothing does.

Aftersun wonder - Aftersun review by PT

I've rated this as one of my films of the year. It's wonderfully acted particularly the young woman taking the part of the daughter. She was so natural in the part and I would say she made this film so special although her father in the film was also wonderful. These two were completely believable in an emotional storyline which I remembered long after watching the film. Great film.

Moving - Aftersun review by sb

FILM & WATCHED Just out on MUBI so as always not too many details. On the one hand a story of a precocious 11 year old girl going on holiday with her estranged father which as the film progresses becomes something more meaningful and sadder. Superb performances from Mescal and Corio (the latter who is quite remarkable) and it’s the kind of film that engages up to a point when watching but really hits home as you think back on it and realise just how effective Charlotte Wells in her debut has accomplished this. I swear you will never hear Under Pressure in the same way ever again. - 4/5

Sun burned - Aftersun review by cr

Yet another luvvie favourite which most viewers would not find entertaining.

The kind of film that points the camera at the actors while they stare at a wall or do the crossword while the critics fawn over it and imply meaning and talent where there is none.

TBH its a marmite film some may like if but i didn't.

Paul Mescal is the films saving grace. - Aftersun review by SKC

There's something just wrong when you happen upon a film this bad yet when you see the so called "critic's review" below, then you know you have not watched the same film or you are not connected with somebody involved. Watch the extras because I love to see people chatting s#1t and acting all superior over this pile of crock. When you have to read online reviews and descriptions about the plot just to get a grasp of what is going on, you know something is wrong.

I think the lead actor is wasted in this film and is very talented indeed. His performance is deep and intense and like most young men in this industry, had to get naked for a totally pointless and a little disturbing scene where he was laid on the bed naked. Typical female writer. I say avoid it like the plague.

I do not know who the director is but she needs to find a new job. When you watch something like this you realise that she is clearly part of the connected crowd and like the London elite champagne socialists, got somewhere because of WHO she knows and clearly not by what she knows.

Painful watch - Aftersun review by WM

The dialogue was clunky throughout.

The filming looked as if it had been done with a cheap camera and held by a 2nd year film student.

It was a film which became painful to watch, as one began to feel sorry for the people attempting to bring to life a concept which was dead from the start.

Avoid.