Aftersun

Charlotte Wells calls her first feature emotionally autobiographical; her 2015 short Tuesday looked at a different stretch of the same parent and child relationship. More than 800 applicants were seen for Sophie before Frankie Corio was cast, and in a 2-week rehearsal she and Paul Mescal spent time at a holiday resort so the dynamic would settle. The story sits in Turkey on the eve of Calum’s 31st birthday, the grown Sophie rewatching the MiniDV tapes. Barry Jenkins and Adele Romanski are among the producers; the worldwide gross was 9.7 million dollars. Critics kept reaching for Margaret Tait’s Blue Black Permanent; a volume of Tait sits in Calum’s holiday reading between a tai chi manual and a self-help book. It showed in Critics’ Week at Cannes in 2022 and won the French Touch Prize of the Jury. The 76th BAFTAs brought 4 nominations: leading actor, casting, outstanding British film, and outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer, which Wells won. At the 95th Academy Awards its only nomination was Mescal for leading actor. Sight and Sound placed it first on its best of 2022 list. A good fit if you want to weigh the gap between a recording and a memory yourself. Not for anyone expecting the father’s state spelled out; the film largely carries it by implication.