Paul Mescal. Paul Mescal. Who is Paul Mescal? Well, he’s an Academy Award nominated actor, I know that much. Beyond that… we’ll see. Aftersun, everybody.
Calum (Paul Mescal) takes his daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) on a fairly uneventful Turkish holiday. As they arrive, they don’t receive the hotel room they’ve booked with two beds, so Calum sleeps on a makeshift mattress while young Sophie gets the double. Sophie is around 11 years old, living with her Mum, and at a guess you’d say she’s probably the product of an unwanted pregnancy by a one-night stand. But Calum is a loving and applicable father, with the noble purpose of this semi-decent family holiday to celebrate his 31st birthday. The two plan some limited activities according to Calum’s implied money woes, but spend most of their days by the pool. As the movie continues on, we get a sense that Calum’s head contains some heavy and crippling thoughts, unbeknownst to Sophie, who is living it up as an extremely sweet kid.
I like the way certain Aftersun scenarios snowball, most notably the karaoke scene, where Sophie is embarrassed trying to have fun, which leads to her lashing out with an unsettling truth she may not have said otherwise. And I was impressed by the way some of the stuff is shot – like how Calum turns off the camcorder at a difficult question, but we still watch the pair carry on in the reflection of the TV. The moment where Calum accidently cuts himself removing his wrist cast, while Sophie is pretending to read her book, is an excellent portrayal of how this father and daughter are pleasant with each other without being truly open and honest. And I suppose, that’s all a movie is at its most basic level – how scenes play out, and how they’re shot – which makes Aftersun mostly very good; except for maybe a choice here and there to include a long take which I found dragged the movie out unnecessarily, personally. Stylistically, reminding me of similarly dreamy and grounded stories like Sean Baker’s recent work, The Florida Project and Red Rocket, or even Moonlight, I’m not quite sure this movie compares favourably – for its first half, I felt like I didn’t know where Aftersun was heading, and wasn’t particularly enjoying the journey to get there either. But then, like most things, I found a groove for what this movie does, and Aftersun is fine.
Is Paul Mescal’s performance Oscar worthy? Meh, I don’t know. If I went into this movie unaware that he’d been nominated for an award, then he wouldn’t jump out at me as an essential recipient. What I will say is that Mescal’s performance does hold our focus as this young father, keeping the weight of a world on his shoulders away from his daughter’s unsuspecting eyes, and I think most of the character work for Calum has been done in Mescal’s own head – Calum is not always outwardly transparent, as the movie is rarely explicit. On the other hand, Frankie Coro is clearly quite brilliant as Sophie, and there’s been a few child actors that I may’ve thought have outshone their co-stars recently, while it’s rarer for child actors to get the same recognition among the awards – I’d agree, they’re probably too young for that kind of shade, but I’m also expected to believe that it’s a matter of the studios lobbying for their prospective talents, and there’s probably more clout in touting for an adult than a rising talent. I hope Coro continues on acting though, because I had a comparison to Natalie Portman in Leon: The Professional in mind – and then one day we can reflect back to this movie as her solid beginnings.
Speaking of awards, I posted a point last year that award shows need to incorporate a category, along with Best Original Song, that recognises ‘Best Revival of an Existing Song’ – Aftersun would qualify, using Queen & David Bowie’s ‘Under Pressure’ so well in its final scenes! Aftersun really picks up when the scattered nightclub moments ingratiate into the main plot, and the movie slams down an impactful finale like two fists on a table. Sophie, as an adult (played by Celia Rowlson-Hall), really becomes the linchpin in giving this movie a voice, creating a longer lens perspective and context to this holiday, as it seems adult Sophie is trying to understand what was really going on back then, with a melancholy sentiment of ‘if only I knew what I know now’. It can only be assumed that this holiday was the last time she ever saw her father – another human succumb to the black void, to suicide. Adult Sophie is probably the same age as Calum when the pair embarked to Turkey, re-watching the holiday video to interpret her father’s mindsight on his final days. I love this, powerful ending, and to me I extrapolate how societal perspectives change from children and adults when we are really one-and-the-same in the course of being a human. Wonderful children, that adults want to provide the world to, are the same people that grow up and feel bad for failing to meet their own expectations. During the holiday we see Sophie is often told she can be whoever she wants to be, and live wherever she wants to live, until we see her equally saddened like her father, and living in a cramped apartment. Receiving a free yellow wristband on holidays is probably as good as it gets. It makes me question if the standard platitudes towards a child’s future play a part in future depressions, and if they properly prepare the average person for the average ups and downs.
Oh, Aftersun is very good for what it is, and I’m imagining that this may’ve been quite a personal project for first-time writer/director Charlotte Wells, lifting from her own experiences – I wonder how accurate that is… The more I’m thinking about Aftersun, the more the final moments inform the movie, and I keep finding little connections in my rearview mirror – Calum’s limiting wrist cast might juxtapose Sophie’s yellow wristband that promises her everything she wants. Calum is bugged because he can’t afford the paragliding, literally grounded by his own predicaments, but he spurges on an expensive rug to at least try to enjoy his feet on the ground. Okay, I’m getting it now. Aftersun contains a perfect bittersweet subtext in supercharged final moments that elevate the entire film, and it’ll be worth another look one day.
3.5
CORRECTION: Frankie Coro was nominated for many awards. I’m happy to be wrong, because she deserved it 😊
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