Aftersun

 

In Charlotte Wells' beautifully evocative and poignant film Aftersun, Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio star as a Scottish father and his 11-year-old daughter, respectively, vacationing on a Turkish island where they will celebrate Dad Calum's 31st birthday.

The story is actually an extended piece of adult Sophie's memory, accented by some camcorder video moments from the trip. The ease of the exchanges between the parent and the child, the warmth that passes between endears Calum and Sophie to us. We care deeply about them. But it is also this chemistry that makes Calum's distractedness so unsettling.

Wells' pacing is wonderfully deliberate; she slowly reveals the ragged edges of Calum's psyche that Sophie only in reflection can see clearly. As a child, though precocious and observant, Sophie did not fully understand her father's behavior or what it would signal for their relationship.

Mescal, who has been nominated for an Academy Award, gives a remarkably understated performance. This is not a part for histrionics but quiet expression, smiles that reveal and conceal, eyes that read both loving and withholding.

Mescal has a more-than-able co-star in young Frankie Corio, who meets the huge demands of the role of Sophie with focus and discipline. Her Sophie represents every woman who wishes she'd chucked the embarrassment and danced with her father just once more.