Aftersun Movie Review

“Aftersun” is remembrance of a past time, a special vacation trip for a father and a daughter. The parents are divorced and the daughter lives with mom. But this summer, it is dad’s turn to take her out on an exotic adventure. But now her older self is wondering — was there something that I missed back then?

Calum (played by Paul Mescal) is taking a vacation trip with his daughter Sophie (played by Frankie Corio). Going away far from England, they both go to a very small resort in Turkey. It is near the beach and some nice tourist spots close by. But Calum selected this place mostly because it was cheap. There are renovations going on, but it is still a cool place to visit. This is especially true for an 11-year-old Sophie.

There are night-time bus rides from the airport and reservation desks that are unattended. But that is no problem for the travelers. Calum has a cast on his wrist, and he does not go into any details about why. Then in their room, he had asked for two queen-sized beds, but there is only one single bed. It is the first of many awkward things that happen in Turkey. Calum always is holding on to a bottle of beer while hanging out in the room. He wants to practice his Tai Chi, and Sophie wants to sleep.

Calum has books on meditation therapy and Tai Chi manuals. It is like he feels the need to calm his anxiety and nervousness. Of course, he never says that. Sophie has the small little hand-held video recorder. She wants to tape her dad and ask him what he thought he might become in the future, back when he was 11-years-old. Sophie does not get an answer, but only a nervous glare. Some things you might not want to find out, Sophie. Calum gets another fold-out bed, so they will be less awkward. It’s time to go and explore. The resort is not crowded at all, mostly because of the construction activity. There is also a nice pool area, along with a video arcade. The resort has a pretty big outdoor bar area, complete with billiard tables.

Calum and Sophie visit in the pool and have fun. Calum is close by the bar to a beer, or three. Sophie plays at the arcade and meets another young tourist boy. Sophie sees that the pool table is free and wants to play Calum. Some older teen boys want to play the two of them. Calum is just glad that he could arrange for a nice vacation time together be she starts school next week. Calum seems to have some other thoughts on his mind, and Sophie doesn’t know what questions to ask to find out what might be troubling him.

There is only so much money that Calum has for this trip. But want to splurge on a boat trip and snorkeling in the ocean bay. He gets really down after Sophie accidentally loses an expensive set of goggles. But chalk it up to the shared experience. Sophie overhears a few older girls in the bathroom, and they are discussing about some ‘grown-up’ fun they have with their boyfriends. Sophie is a little bit puzzled, and a bit curious. But that will all work out sometime later, I suppose.

Calum and Sophie look up as see quite a few tourists up on the hang gliders. That is a popular thing to do around here. Sophie would love to do that, but Calum says it is much too dangerous. Which means it is much too expensive.

They go out to shop in the local tourist shops. Calum finds a very expensive Persian rug. It is well beyond his budget, but decides to buy it anyway. Sophie and Calum go out at the resort for diner. The bottle of beer is there, also. A nice waiter takes a Polaroid picture of the two of them. They go to watch a karaoke show, and Sophie signs them both up to sing. Calum refuses to sing, and Sophie goes up there on her own.

She warbles out a song, and Calum says something about singing lessons. Sophie gets really upset and goes off on her own. She hangs out at the video arcade. She meets up the older kids from the pool table episode. She seems to get along with the older kids pretty well, along with the boy she met before who is her own age. Calum sits and drinks some more, and realizes that he does not know where Sophie is at. He gets nervous and flustered again, so he has a drink or two to calm his nerves.

The next day, Calum says he is sorry, and they go on a sightseeing bus to some old Roman ruins.There are mud baths there, and an old amphitheater. Today is Calum’s birthday, and Sophie gets the people on the bus tour to sing to Calum. He is embarrassed, and nervous. So that is a situation normal for him…

On the bus ride back to the airport, Calum is quite for most of the time. Sophie thinks there might be something that is troubling him, but she does not know what to say. So she just tells him that this was the most fun trip that she has ever been on. She caught a lot of it on the video camera, so she can remember how much fun it was.

Calum smiles, but Sophie thinks that he might not be really happy. But that was Sophie back twenty years ago. Now the Adult Sophie (played by Celia Rowlson-Hall) – who has been popping up all throughout the movie, shows that this is all her recreation of that trip. It is all her recollection of how it happened and what went on.

“Aftersun” is an ode to parents and children on a simple vacation, but it is set in a minor key. There is much more that is unsaid than what is outright stated. You get a feeling that this trip for Sophie might have been the final time that she saw her dad. But that is never made clear.

In the movie, an Adult Sophie imagines a wild rave dance party with flashing lights. Does she really see Calum on the dance floor, the same age as he was the last time young Sophie sees him at the airport. Is this a vivid imagination, a dream, or what? That is a question never answered…

This movie would not amount to much if there were not powerful performances. Both Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio are terrific (as Calum and young Sophie). They have a true naturalness to the easy way they interact.  They seem to be very at ease with being around one another.