The “Beautifully Sculpted and Quietly Shattering” AFTERSUN Opens November 4 at AFS Cinema

“Rumors of something remarkable have circled around AFTERSUN since its première … and guess what? The rumors are true.” —Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

It’s rare that a nearly unknown filmmaker lands so squarely in the middle of the zeitgeist as director Charlotte Wells has with her arthouse smash AFTERSUN. Until recently, she was best known for her short films (“Laps” took home the Special Jury Recognition at SXSW 2017), but with the strong critical and commercial success of AFTERSUN by A24, we expect she’ll be known for features soon as well. 

This searingly emotional debut film, produced by MOONLIGHT director Barry Jenkins, begins at a fading vacation resort where 11-year-old Sophie (sensational newcomer Frankie Corio) treasures rare time together with her loving and idealistic father, Calum (Normal People star Paul Mescal). As a world of adolescence creeps into view beyond her eye, Calum struggles under the weight of life outside of fatherhood. Twenty years later, Sophie’s tender recollections of their last holiday become a powerful and heartrending portrait of their relationship as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t. 

AFTERSUN opens at AFS Cinema on Friday, November 4.

REVIEWS

“It’s deeply felt, a warm embodiment of a liminal time in life when our conceptions of ourselves and our loved ones come pinging into focus while also, somehow, drifting into new confusion.” —Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair

“It’s a memory piece and, as such, a rumination on the ways in which memories can be at once indelible and imprecise, how they can torment us and fail us and still be the most precious things — maybe even the only things — we have left.” —Justin Chang, LA Times

“A film to be experienced — just go with it — the full impact of AFTERSUN comes as the credits start to roll, and the processing begins.” —G. Allen Johnson, The San Fransisco Chronicle

“The performances here are quiet marvels … Mescal reveals without showing, communicating with us in a language that goes beyond words, or even a glance.” —Stephanie Zacharek, Time Magazine

“It’s about wanting to reach across time, and to meet a loved one in an impossible space where, for once, you’re both on the same level, and you can finally understand them for who they are — or who they were.” —Alison Willmore, Vulture