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Aftersun

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Aftersun
Release poster
Directed byCharlotte Wells
Written byCharlotte Wells
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyGregory Oke
Edited byBlair McClendon
Music byOliver Coates
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Mubi (United Kingdom)
  • A24 (United States)
Release dates
  • 21 May 2022 (2022-05-21) (Cannes)
  • 21 October 2022 (2022-10-21) (United States)
  • 18 November 2022 (2022-11-18) (United Kingdom)
Running time
101 minutes[1]
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.7 million[2][3]

Aftersun is a 2022 drama film written and directed by Charlotte Wells, starring Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio and Celia Rowlson-Hall. It was released in the United States on 21 October 2022 by A24 and in the United Kingdom on 18 November 2022 by Mubi. The film received universal acclaim from critics, who praised Wells' direction and screenplay, and Mescal's performance. It was also named one of the best films of 2022 by the National Board of Review.[4]

Plot

11-year-old Sophie takes a summer vacation to Turkey with her loving and idealistic but troubled 30 year old Scottish father, Calum

Sophie is a curious, intelligent and observant girl and grapples with her burgeoning feelings of growth as she observes the teenagers on the Turkish resort engage in and discuss sexual and romantic activity. Sophie also can sense the distance that exists between her father and herself during the vacation.

Calum deeply loves Sophie but exhibits signs of general detachment which he tries to hide from his daughter, keeping up a façade of contentment during the vacation. He is amicably separated from Sophie’s mother, is dealing with occupational and financial struggles, and is making unsuccessful attempts to quell the feelings of self-hatred and sadness that he mostly keeps contained by engaging in Tai Chi patterns and reading self-help books.

Sophie’s observant nature allows her to recognise that her father is dealing with a plethora of adult things she fails to understand. On one occasion, Sophie and Calum go scuba diving and she loses her scuba mask to the sea, which hurts Calum who tries to feign nonchalance. Sophie knows that her father is upset by her mistake and expresses that she understood the mask costed a lot and comforts her father. In another instance, Calum and Sophie go to a rug merchant and Sophie observes Calum grapple with the cost of purchasing a rug he likes.

Sophie’s perceptiveness surprises Calum and inadvertently causes him to become more depressed. But a climactic moment occurs late in the vacation; Calum and Sophie share a dance together to the music of Under Pressure that brings them together for one of their last times in a loving embrace.

Interspersed throughout the film are strobe-lit dance rave sequences featuring a crowd of dancing people, Calum in a stupor dancing, and a confused Sophie watching from afar. Sophie attempts multiple times to close the distance between herself and Calum but fails, and an adult Sophie appears and angrily pushes Calum down when she reaches him.

Later, Calum and Sophie are at the airport, signalling the end of their vacation and the last moment they spend in each other’s presence. Calum, waving goodbye, sends Sophie off to her flight back home to her mother. Interestingly, Calum then turns around and walks down the hallway to the room of the dance rave.

Twenty years later, Calum is not present in Sophie’s life anymore. A 31 year old Sophie looks back on the trip to Turkey with her father in the form of DVR recorder footage that both she and Calum took on the trip. She uses the video footage to reminisce about the experience, reflecting on their relationship and the parts of him she wasn't able to know or understand as an 11 year old, but understands with poignance now.

Cast

  • Paul Mescal as Calum Paterson
  • Frankie Corio as Sophie Paterson
  • Brooklyn Toulson as Michael
  • Sally Messham as Belinda
  • Spike Fearn as Olly
  • Harry Perdios as Toby
  • Ruby Thompson as Laura
  • Ethan James Smith as Scott
  • Kayleigh Coleman as Jane

Production

Aftersun is the feature film debut of director and writer Charlotte Wells. Calling it "emotionally autobiographical", she sought to delve into "a different period" in a relationship between a young parent and a daughter than what she explored in her 2015 debut short film, Tuesday.[5] Frankie Corio was one of over 800 applicants before being cast.[5] Filming took place in Turkey.[6]

Release

The film premiered as part of International Critics' Week during the 2022 Cannes Film Festival,[7] where it won a jury prize.[8] It screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival,[9] the Melbourne International Film Festival,[10] the Telluride Film Festival,[11] the Toronto International Film Festival,[12] the London Film Festival,[13] the New York Film Festival[14] and the Adelaide Film Festival.[15]

Aftersun was distributed in Austria, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Latin America, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom by Mubi and in the United States and Canada by A24.[16][17] It was released in the United States on 21 October 2022 and in the United Kingdom on 18 November 2022.[18][19]

The film is scheduled to be released for VOD platforms on December 20, 2022.[20]

Reception

On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, Aftersun holds an approval rating of 96% based on 170 reviews, with an average rating of 8.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Led by Frankie Corio's tremendous performance, Aftersun deftly ushers audiences to the intersection between our memories of loved ones and who they really are."[21] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 95 out of 100 based on 45 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[22]

The New York Times critic A. O. Scott described the film as "astonishing and devastating" and commended Wells for "very nearly reinventing the language of film, unlocking the medium's often dormant potential to disclose inner worlds of consciousness and feeling."[23] Screen Daily's Fionnuala Halligan wrote that Wells' "measured but relentless probing ... mark her out as one of the most promising new voices in British cinema in recent years".[24] Guy Lodge of Variety described the film as "sensuous, sharply moving".[1] Carlos Aguilar of The Wrap praised Gregory Oke's "visually fluid" cinematography and thought that it "evokes a radiant melancholia".[25]

Awards and nominations

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Cannes Film Festival 28 May 2022 Critics' Week Grand Prize Charlotte Wells Nominated [8]
French Touch Prize of the Jury Won
Munich International Film Festival 2 July 2022 CineVision Award Won [26]
Sarajevo Film Festival 19 August 2022 Special Award for the Promotion of Gender Equality Aftersun Won [27]
Melbourne International Film Festival 20 August 2022 Bright Horizons Award Nominated [28]
Deauville American Film Festival 10 September 2022 Grand Prize Won [29]
[30]
Critics Award Won
Zurich Film Festival 2 October 2022 Best International Feature Film Nominated [31]
Montclair Film Festival 30 October 2022 Fiction Feature Won [32]
Seville European Film Festival 12 November 2022 New Waves Award for Best Film Won [33]
Gotham Independent Film Awards 28 November 2022 Best Feature Nominated [34]
Outstanding Lead Performance Paul Mescal Nominated
Breakthrough Performer Frankie Corio Nominated
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award Charlotte Wells Won
New York Film Critics Circle Awards 2 December 2022 Best First Film Aftersun Won [35]
British Independent Film Awards 4 December 2022 Best British Independent Film Charlotte Wells, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson Won [36]
[37]
[38]
Best Director Charlotte Wells Won
Best Joint Lead Performance Frankie Corio and Paul Mescal Nominated
Breakthrough Performance Frankie Corio Nominated
Best Screenplay Charlotte Wells Won
Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) Won
Best Debut Screenwriter Nominated
Best Casting Lucy Pardee Nominated
Best Cinematography Gregory Oke Won
Best Costume Design Frank Gallacher Nominated
Best Editing Blair McClendon Won
Best Make-Up & Hair Design Oya Aygör, Murat Çağin Nominated
Best Original Music Oliver Coates Nominated
Best Music Supervision Lucy Bright Won
Best Production Design Bailur Turan Nominated
Best Sound Jovan Adjer, Vijay Rathinam Nominated
National Board of Review 8 December 2022 Top 10 Films Aftersun Won [39]
Best Directorial Debut Charlotte Wells Won
European Film Awards 10 December 2022 Best Actor Paul Mescal Nominated [40]
Las Vegas Film Critics Society 12 December 2022 Breakout Filmmaker Charlotte Wells Pending [41]
Best Female Youth Performance (Under 21) Frankie Corio Pending
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association 12 December 2022 Best Actor Paul Mescal Pending [42]
Best Youth Performance Frankie Corio Pending
Cinema Eye Honors 13 January 2023 Heterodox Award Aftersun Pending [43]
Independent Spirit Awards 4 March 2023 Best First Feature Charlotte Wells, Mark Ceryak, Amy Jackson, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski Pending [44]
Best Lead Performance Paul Mescal Pending
Best Breakthrough Performance Frankie Corio Pending
Best Cinematography Gregory Oke Pending
Best Editing Blair McClendon Pending

References

  1. ^ a b Lodge, Guy (21 May 2022). "'Aftersun' Review: Paul Mescal's Charisma Powers a Summer Vacation Portrait That Isn't as Sunny as It Seems". Variety. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Aftersun (2022)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Aftersun (2022)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  4. ^ https://nationalboardofreview.org/2022/12/national-board-of-review-announces-2022-award-winners/
  5. ^ a b Ramachandran, Naman (20 May 2022). "Charlotte Wells on Cannes Critics' Week Film 'Aftersun': 'I Got More and More of Myself Into Both Characters'". Variety. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  6. ^ Smith, Anna (21 May 2022). "Cannes Review: Paul Mescal In Charlotte Wells' 'Aftersun'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  7. ^ Grater, Tom (20 April 2022). "Cannes Critics' Week: Jesse Eisenberg's 'When You Finish Saving The World' To Open 2022 Selection". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 20 April 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  8. ^ a b Vlessing, Etan (25 May 2022). "Cannes: 'La Jauria' Tops Critics' Week Prizes". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  9. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (12 July 2022). "Charlotte Wells' Cannes Critics' Week Breakout 'Aftersun' To Open Edinburgh". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Aftersun".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ Jones, Marcus (5 September 2022). "Barry Jenkins Praises 'Aftersun' at Telluride: 'I'm a F*cking Wreck'". IndieWire. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  12. ^ "Aftersun". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  13. ^ "Aftersun". BFI London Film Festival 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  14. ^ "Main Slate". Film at Lincoln Center. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  15. ^ "AFF announces the first 5 films for 2022". Adelaide Film Festival. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  16. ^ Dalton, Ben (21 May 2022). "Mubi buys hot UK Cannes title 'Aftersun' starring Paul Mescal (exclusive)". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  17. ^ Lattanzio, Ryan (24 May 2022). "A24 Buys Paul Mescal Cannes Drama 'Aftersun' for U.S., Canada (Exclusive)". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  18. ^ "Fall Movie Calendar: From Blonde to Wakanda Forever". WHEC-TV. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  19. ^ Dalton, Ben (30 September 2022). "UK-Ireland cinema release calendar: latest updates for 2022". Screen Daily. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  20. ^ "Aftersun DVD Release Date". www.dvdsreleasedates.com. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  21. ^ "Aftersun". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  22. ^ "Aftersun Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  23. ^ Scott, A. O. (20 October 2022). "'Aftersun' Review: A Father and Time". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  24. ^ Halligan, Fionnuala (21 May 2022). "'Aftersun': Cannes Review". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  25. ^ Aguilar, Carlos (21 May 2022). "'Aftersun' Film Review: Charlotte Wells Debuts With an Achingly Stirring Coming-of-Age Tale". TheWrap. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  26. ^ "Just keep winning!". Munich International Film Festival. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  27. ^ Dalton, Ben (19 August 2022). "Croatian drama 'Safe Place' leads Sarajevo Film Festival winners". Screen Daily. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  28. ^ "MIFF Awards". MIFF 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  29. ^ "Awards". Deauville American Film Festival. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  30. ^ Keslassy, Elsa (11 September 2022). "'Aftersun,' 'War Pony,' 'Palm Trees and Power Lines' Win Top Prizes at Deauville Festival". Variety. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  31. ^ Del Don, Giorgia (15 September 2022). "The Zurich Film Festival unveils the programme for its 18th edition". Cineuropa. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  32. ^ Moye, Clarence (31 October 2022). "Montclair Film Festival Announces 2022 Award Winners". Awards Daily. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  33. ^ McLennan, Callum (13 November 2022). "Seville European Film Festival 2022: Top Prizes, 5 Takeaways". Variety. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  34. ^ Zilko, Christian (28 November 2022). "Gotham Awards Winners List (Updating Live)". IndieWire. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  35. ^ "Awards – New York Film Critics Circle". Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  36. ^ Ntim, Zac (4 November 2022). "British Independent Film Awards: 'Aftersun,' 'Blue Jean' & 'The Wonder' Lead Nominations". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  37. ^ Ntim, Zac (4 December 2022). "British Independent Film Awards: 'Aftersun' Sweeps With 7 Wins Including Best Film". Deadline. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  38. ^ Ntim, Zac (18 November 2022). "British Independent Film Awards: 'Aftersun' Leads Craft Winners". Deadline. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  39. ^ Jones, Marcus (8 December 2022). "2022 National Board of Review Winners: 'Top Gun: Maverick' Takes Top Honor". IndieWire. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  40. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (8 November 2022). "'Close', 'Holy Spider' & 'Triangle Of Sadness' Lead European Film Awards Nominations". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  41. ^ Neglia, Matt (10 December 2022). "The 2022 Las Vegas Film Critics Society (LVFCS) Nominations". Next Best Picture. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  42. ^ Neglia, Matt (10 December 2022). "The 2022 Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) Nominations". Next Best Picture. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  43. ^ Jones, Marcus (10 November 2022). "'Fire of Love' and 'The Territory' Lead 2023 Cinema Eye Honors Nonfiction Film Nominees". IndieWire. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  44. ^ Coates, Hilary Lewis,Tyler; Lewis, Hilary; Coates, Tyler (22 November 2022). "Independent Spirit Awards Film Nominations: 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' Leads With Eight Nods". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 November 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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