TW: Aftersun contains mentions of Suicide

The Best Multifaceted Summer Movie? 

Charlotte Wells’ 2022 film Aftersun is a quiet look into the last summer vacation that Sophie (Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson Hall) takes with her father, Callum (Paul Mescal), and Sophie’s reflection on it years later. Aftersun’s uniqueness comes from the way that Wells’ direction blends nostalgia, longing, youth, and hope to make a movie fit for a perfect summer day. 

Summertime Nostalgia and Longing

Summertime is naturally fleeting and comes with an inherent sense of longing. The days are long but seem to always end before their time is up, as people cling to those tender moments with their friends, or the simple solitude in the waning sun. Everyone is chasing that summer day from way back when; how it felt to hold someone’s hand for a while, the friend from summer camp’s tiny red sunglasses, the sound of the street lights flickering on after riding your bike for too long. Looking back on these distinct moments can be painful, they can be beautiful, they can be intense, and they can be foggy. “Summertime” is so much more than just a season, it’s a feeling you can reach out to, relate to, and look back upon. In everyone, there is a longing for some sense of the summer, something they can try and get back. 

We all have these beautiful, personal moments of the summer, as does Sophie. One of the things Charlotte Wells does that is so spectacular in this film is she makes Sophie and Calum’s summertime experience together universal. We may not have the same experiences as them, no, but what we do have are those feelings of nostalgia and longing for the summer that once was, for the summer we can’t get back. Wells makes her film tangible for the audience, and the way that Sophie remembers is so tangible. The books on the shelf in their hotel room, the hand of the boy who she kissed by the pool, her dad’s distinct shadowy figure as they sang him happy birthday. Another beautiful aspect of nostalgia for this film is the way it looks. The heavy, grainy texture adds to the feelings of nostalgia and longing. This fantastic use of texture over the film makes the scenes we watch feel like a memory; it looks similar to the digital video camera that Sophie and Calum use throughout the film, and it naturally makes the audience feel a sense of nostalgia while watching. Wells encapsulates those lost summer moments we wish we could all get back by making them so personal, and so distinct, that they become universal while viewing. 

Youthful Summer

Youthfulness and how we come of age have always been tied to summertime. Childhood discovery and experience happen on those long summer days, boring or not. It’s a time when neither school teachers nor parents can keep youthful exuberance locked away in a classroom or the child’s bedroom. Sophie’s summer is one in which she grows immensely through her experiences in Turkey. She learns more about herself in the moments where she talks about her feelings of depression with her father, when she asks about love, or when she sees how teenagers and boys and girls interact. She also begins to unlock her father, slowly, asking him about his hopes and dreams. She learns more about Calum and begins to see him as such, and not just “dad” which is something most children eventually discover within their parents.