Aftersun

Charlotte Wells’ debut feature as a director taps into the particular melancholy of a childhood beach vacation with this story of a girl and her father whom she’s struggling to understand. Eleven-year-old Sophie and her dad Calum try to make the most of the sleepy Turkish resort they’re visiting, where she’s still figuring out which kids to hang out with. Despite their obvious closeness and Calum’s loose-limbed charm, he can be a ghostly companion, sometimes absent on a trip that feels precious because Sophie usually lives with her mother – with all the burdens of being an emotional go-between for her parents which that entails. Their time together is viewed through the aching filter of memory and home videos, with glimpses of Sophie as an adult, as a parent herself, lending the whole film the tenderness of contemplation in retrospect.
With echoes of Sofia Coppola’s work (SOMEWHERE), Wells resists the easy pivotal epiphanies of other coming-of-age films as the story gathers an aching poignancy. Newcomer Corio brings a sense of thoughtfulness and vulnerability to Sophie, while Mescal bravely plumbs the angst lurking behind the youthful facade as responsibilities loom. (Nicolas Rapold)

Charlotte Wells: TUESDAY (2015, K), LAPS (2016, K), BLUE CHRISTMAS (2017, K)