Aftersun (Charlotte Wells, 2022)

[DarkImbecile]

Trailer

[therewillbeblus]

Aftersun is a film that doesn't seem like it's going to be anything until it's everything, languidly building to a cumulative power in still understated moments, that destroy your heart in their fearless mining of the rawest emotions. It's hard to write much about this film, since its strategy is primarily sensory in locating the spiritual pulse of personal meaning in corporeal trivialities, but I suppose it's 'about' memory, and our complex and comprehensive relationship to the ones that inexplicably evoke the strongest feelings for us in the present. Sophie's father either doesn't remember literal significant events like injuries, or he struggles to engage with memories that elicit uncomfortable feelings, but in one of the subtlest exchanges of dialog, he advises her that whatever she experiments with, "just remember." You may miss the importance of this on a first watch, because it seems like there's supposed to be tangible advice following that- 'what should she remember to do'? The climax in a metaphorical rave, representing the space where Sophie can tangibly engage with all the uncomfortable memories and emotional signifiers to those memories, demands we contextualize this to mean that facing one's elusive memories is the most painful, courageous and rewarding practice one can 'do'. There are reasons why so many of us bottle stuff up. There are reasons why Sophie's dad did, ones that she and we will never know, ones that are likely not objectively logical but exist in the nebulous space of personal traumas from conditioned life experience. But here's Charlotte, as Sophie, doing what her dad could not and what he wanted her to do. And it's as beautiful as it is tragic. One confused person leaving my theatre, who expected a more straightforward message-movie, said, "That was difficult, lots to think about." Remembering is difficult, lots to feel about.

[zedz]

Agreed. This is a great film that sneaks up on you, with a style that slips away from realism every so often in a complex and powerful way.

[therewillbeblus]

This may sound strange, but it's a bit like if someone took The Souvenir Part II's reflexive strategy of reconstructing skewed memory to explore the angering and devastating and inspiring and surrendering unknowability of your parent that 20th Century Women climaxed with in its final moment

[bdsweeney]

I don't really known how to approach writing about Aftersun because I know that while a lot of why I love it so much is to do with the quality of the film making, so much of it is also about myself that I bring to my viewing of it. I don't really know how to separate the two and, because of this, how to give any critique of worth to others because I think so much of why it had an enormous emotional impact is because of 'stuff' to do with me. I can objectively say that it does a lot of things that fall within a quality of film making that I find very appealing: moments of just sitting in time and space if only for a few seconds, portrayal of family, the elusiveness of memory etc. On top of this, the photography, sound design, editing and acting all click together so well. Charlotte Wells has done an astonishing job.
Where I find it terribly difficult to be objective is when it starts to explore the undercurrents of the dad and daughter's emotional and behavioural aspects. For example, I bring my relationship with my young son and associated hopes and fears, while I also share in some of the conditions that seem apparent in the dad. Well's work speaks to me incredibly personally. From the few subsequent interviews with Wells I’ve read, the film comes from an intensely personal place for her. I don’t really know what else to say other than I guess it speaks to how often art that may seem so intensely detailed in the director’s personal detail that it could seem to be so much going down their own rabbit hole that there’s no way in for an audience … but instead has an enormous universality derived from the detail because there’s so much for an audience to recognise and make connections with.
I can recognise that it will only appeal to an audience who like a certain type of film-making and wouldn’t begrudge anyone who prefers a more story-driven narrative. However, for me, I am unbelievably grateful to Charlotte Wells for such a wonderful film.

[Matt]

I’m sorry to say this felt very much like the debut feature Sundance hit it is. There’s an overbearing tone of “Watch out! Death can happen at any moment,” clanging like a bell due to shot after shot of portentous moments that don’t really add up to much in the end. I will admit that it is extremely well-crafted and I don’t have any problems with the performances or the visual aspects, but it seems like territory already trod upon by Lynne Ramsay, Andrea Arnold, and Debra Granik and done much better by them.

I watched this a couple of days before Banshees of Inisherin, which I think does the inverse of this film and doesn’t heavily foreshadow its major events (even though the title implies portents of death [that’s what banshees do]), but its visual style is a 50/50 combination of ‘90s Miramax Presents and Tourism Board promotional film that undercuts the intimacy of the story.

Aftersun’s script feels too big for its framework and Banshees’ framework feels too big for its script. Would not begrudge any member of their casts winning awards though, or Wells for directing and McDonagh for writing.

[therewillbeblus]

I know what you mean. For most of its runtime, Aftersun didn't succeed in drawing me into the same urgent and captivating activity of youth experience that some of those other filmmakers did more consistently across a few works, but its cumulative effect was uniquely hypnotic. I'm still not sure how she did it, but the place it builds to hit me so suddenly and strongly, in a way I've never really experienced (outside of Euphoria: Trouble Don't Last Always, but it's still different since this film is very much directed at evolving towards its consequential feeling). That's not to say it's the best version of where it's pitching its overall focus, but whatever allowed that ceiling to be hit felt like a trick that was entirely organic. That sounds antithetical, and that's partly why I'm still stunned by what Wells delivered.

[alacal2]

This is an astonishing film debut from all concerned. I think its the sense of other-worldliness that trumps the feeling of danger that Matt talks about -the way Calum drifts in and out of the frame for example. For a film about impermanence, the perpetual mystery of relationships and the nature of memory, Wells shows an amazing grip on her material and her audience. There is one breathtaking closeup shot of Calum's arm with a Polaroid snap of him and Sophie that never quite seems to develop and for me captures the whole story. Or did I just imagine it?

[Matt]

Claire Denis has a short appreciation in Variety (part of a feature of established directors each talking about a film from this year), and I think she accentuates the positives I saw in the film without mentioning the negatives:

I discovered Charlotte Wells’ film “Aftersun” at the Morelia Film Festival in Mexico. The film was shown in a large, packed theater. From the first images, we are swept away by the director’s shifts in points of view, the glances exchanged between father and daughter. The directing style evokes the wavering, timorous sensations of the love they feel for each other, made intense because their time is running out: the time of their vacation, the time they share in the sun, by the sea, without her mother. Fragile time meted out to a fragile father.

Never before have I felt the power of a point of view that immerses us into gazes that dare to secretly spar in front of the lens of a small video camera. We are pulled in by the characters’ words too, which comprise a kind of game that slowly reveals the father to his almost adolescent daughter. Charlotte Wells leads us into a dark and frightening space, a moment of night when the father and the daughter split up to test their courage. This separation projects us into a future when the child will no longer be there to watch over — discreetly, intensely — her father, her guardian.

Frankie Corio radiates beauty and life. Charlotte Wells turns her into a detective who takes us down the secret trail that leads to her father. Paul Mescal is staggering in the role.

[furbicide]

Brilliant film that I'm very keen to revisit ASAP. Has anyone gotten their hands on the Mubi DVD release yet? As always with that label, it's difficult to find anything much about the release online.

[therewillbeblus]

Has any Mubi release been 'bad'? Everything I've bought from them has been relatively consistent: solid presentation, sparse on features

[bdsweeney]

Brilliant film that I'm very keen to revisit ASAP. Has anyone gotten their hands on the Mubi DVD release yet? As always with that label, it's difficult to find anything much about the release online.

I believe it’ll be released today (20/2/23) in the UK on blu with little to no extra features. I’m keen to get the film on blu but holding out to see if it gets a release elsewhere with some bulkier features (esp. Wells’ short Tuesday as it tangentially relates to Aftersun). Any idea if there’s been talk of it getting a release from a US (or other) boutique label (e.g. A24 or Criterion)?

[furbicide]

Yeah, it's a fair question. There's some precedent for Criterion and Mubi to do parallel releases (e.g. The Worst Person in the World), and you'd have to think this'd be on Criterion's radar. And Wells' shorts (none of which I've seen) all look interesting. So I'm wondering now if I should hold out too...

[Rupert Pupkin]

Like the Oslo trilogy I bought the blu-ray Mubi - it was a pre-order; I did not know that there was no supplements at all whereas the Oslo Trilogy makes sense - Renate as a very small role in one of the three movies and the bonus are great (different interview from Renate) - I highly regret that Criterion did not release a complete box set around the "Oslo Trilogy".
Same disappointment for Céline Sciamma, just "Petite Maman" and missing "La Naissance des Pieuvres", whereas in Germany a beautiful complete box set has been released (I did not check the Plain Archive (which as some audition bonus as well as outtakes for La Naissance des Pieuvres; was already out of print unfortunately)

Well regarding "After Sunset" this is perhaps one of my favorite movie of the year (I loved the series "Normal People", and Paul Mescal acting is not that different in After Sunset - really an amazing performance, has her daughter in the movie); but this is the kind of movie I won't check or see the interview because I already saw the movie twice and saw it completely differently; I would rather enjoy to see some short movies; so really Criterion should do something about this gem.

[Calvin]

Like the Oslo trilogy I bought the blu-ray Mubi - it was a pre-order; I did not know that there was no supplements at all.

There are supplements though? There's a commentary by Wells, a Q&A, a deleted scene, a behind the scenes video filmed at the London Film Festival by Frankie Corio, and a short film, Tuesday, directed by Wells.

[bdsweeney]

Like the Oslo trilogy I bought the blu-ray Mubi - it was a pre-order; I did not know that there was no supplements at all.

There are supplements though? There's a commentary by Wells, a Q&A, a deleted scene, a behind the scenes video filmed at the London Film Festival by Frankie Corio, and a short film, Tuesday, directed by Wells.

You’re right. The Mubi release’s supplements are more substantial than I first realised and make it an attractive purchase.

[furbicide]

Thanks for that info, Calvin. Sold!

[Persona]

It will be very interesting to follow Wells' career from here. Will she be able to match the power of a debut that was so personal to her?

[therewillbeblus]

At this point I just assume every new indie voice will do a couple of small passionate pics and then Marvel will recruit them and usurp their talents

[furbicide]

I’m still deeply perplexed by the complete absence of information about Mubi discs online. If you scoured their website, as I was trying to do today to confirm Calvin’s comments above (which I eventually found in a promotional image posted on the Blu-ray.com forum), you wouldn’t even guess they had a Blu-ray/DVD production arm, let alone what’s for sale / coming soon and what’s included in these releases. Am I missing something obvious here, or what?

[therewillbeblus]

They've been weird like this forever. The Trier Oslo trilogy set had no real advertisement nor information on special features. I came up completely empty in my research when trying to figure out whether to double dip on the Criterion, even after it had been out for a few weeks

[yoloswegmaster]

A24 is releasing a blu-ray in April

[Finch]

Amazingly with fewer extras than MUBI's UK disc.

[Rupert Pupkin]

A24 is releasing a blu-ray in April

like the Oslo trilogy, I have bought "Aftersun" in the UK (the Mubi edition).
I also bought the Criterion (The Worst Person In The World)

A24 is the US editor/label of the movie ?; so that means no Charlotte Wells in the Criterion collection ? Too bad; there was a time when Criterion used to release such movies (some great discoveries, Sunset Festival movies, etc...)

What is A24 shop ? A US shop or something "collector" like Plain Archive ? (I like the digipack design but you don't see it the same way when you've the movie; even if this is something has delicate has Sofia Coppola's "Somewhere" this is way more bitter to say the least)

I have tried to order it via WOWHD but it did not appear here. I can only order it through the A24 show ? (I live In France; I highly doubt despite the good reviews (Positif...) that this movie will came out on blu-ray in France.

[tenia]

Condor have announced not long ago there will be a BD/DVD combo release of Aftersun in June 23 in France.