Aftersun

Drama Rated: R 96 min
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When a young woman looks back on a magical last childhood trip to Turkey with her young father, recorded and imagined memories crash headlong into the present, fusing and fracturing how she remembers him, and herself. This startling debut film from Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells sifts for clues from all angles, relying less on plot than on an emotional register that feels achingly real. Normal People’s Paul Mescal, who received his first Oscar nomination for his role, is mesmerizing as the loving, devoted father running from his sadness. His daughter (Frankie Corio and Celia Rowlson-Hall) isn’t sure she will ever understand. A New York Times Critic’s Pick and surprise festival hit, including at FilmColumbia, Aftersun has won dozens of industry awards in the runup to the Oscars.

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor

“Capturing the thick, complex reality of their bond — registering its quick, microscopic fluctuations and tracking its slow tectonic shifts — is Wells’s great achievement. And Mescal and Corio’s as well. They are so natural, so light and grave and particular, that they don’t seem to be acting at all.” — A.O. Scott, The New York Times
“Wells knows exactly what she’s doing, and her storytelling is as precise as it is piercing.” — Mark Kermode, The Observer (UK)
directed by
Charlotte Wells
written by
Charlotte Wells
with
Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall
country
United Kingdom, United States