"Aftersun" -- Movie Review

 

Recently at Lincoln Center, I attended a screening of the new drama, “Aftersun”. 

Synopsis

When a little girl goes on vacation with her father, will they be able to bond despite the fact that he is now separated from her mother?

Story

As the summer winds down and a return to school approaches, Calum (Paul Mescal) negotiates with his ex-wife to take their 11-year-old daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) to Turkey for a brief (and cheap) vacation.  The weather is hot and the sun is unremitting, so Calum is dutifully applying plenty of sunscreen to his daughter.  Sophie appears to be enjoying herself – or at least, she’s enjoying having time to spend with her father; a rare thing these days since her parents separated.  Short on cash since he’s had difficulty earning a living, Calum does his level best to show Sophie a good time. 

Sophie’s sources of entertainment are somewhat limited because there aren’t too many children at this resort that are around her age; the few young people she encounters are in their late teens.  Since they are mostly interested in hanging with peers their age so they can imbibe virtually unlimited alcohol, pretty much the only thing they can do with Sophie is play pool.  Sophie, however, is left to look on enviously and forlornly as her vacation pals engage in some romantic pursuits.  Pretty much the best Sophie can do is to befriend a boy at a nearby arcade as they spend the afternoon playing games together. 

Tension sets in during their stay when Sophie’s interests diverge from Calum’s; she wants him to join her in karaoke, but he refuses.  Later, he suggests retiring to their room, but she resists.  Seeking out her own adventures, Sophie finds the boy she met at the arcade; seeing as how they are close in age and neither one of them has yet fully embarked on the tremulous adventure known as adolescence, they make an awkward attempt at a tryst.  When it gets late and Sophie grows tired, she finally decides to return to the room she and Calum share – but when she discovers that she’s been locked out, will this imperil the remainder of their otherwise pleasant trip?       

Review

Although “Aftersun” played at the recent New York Film Festival, this screening took place after its official release.  The movie has received widespread critical acclaim; there is good reason for that given the stylistic choices made by director Charlotte Wells and the performance by Frankie Corio in the role of Sophie.  Despite “Aftersun” becoming something of a critic’s darling, it is a bit of a letdown in terms of the emotional impact which it attempts to deliver; much of what we learn comes at the end of the film and it is ultimately left up to the imagination of the viewer to figure out everything at that point. 

Where the directing somewhat falls apart is in the actual framing of the story.  Clearly, it is a coming-of-age tale told through the eyes of an 11-year-old girl; what we as an audience don’t immediately know – and are left to assemble the pieces of the puzzle at the conclusion of the film – is that this is told in the form of a flashback by the now-adult Sophie (who is apparently also a parent herself).  This “reveal” and the way it is done is both awkward and confusing; given the seeming intent by the filmmaker, it might have been made clearer (and more satisfying) to inform the audience upfront about how this story would unfold. 

Ultimately, “Aftersun” is more style over substance.  Unfortunately, this style obfuscates the substance, which is the reflection of the adult on her complex relationship with her father during her childhood now that she has also assumed the role of parent.  While the relationship between daughter and father in her childhood is simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking, without the context behind this story we cannot establish the deeper meaning behind adult Sophie’s reminiscences.  Perhaps that is the most heartbreaking part of the motion picture – knowing that it could have been so much better than its final version.