A story in which melancholy even appears natural, and not that it smears the story, after sun it’s a good film about the relationship between a separated father and his little daughter, in which the dialogues, the situations and the prevailing climate make you leave the cinema with a feeling of joy.
Scottish debut film Charlotte Wells, which discovered Critics’ Week at Cannes and debuts in theaters today, before landing in streaming on MUBI in January, after sun it takes place in the late 90s, but – it will be discovered – it is told from a present.
Sophie (newcomer Frankie Corio) has 11 children and is enjoying a vacation with her father, Calum (Paul Mescal, a name to keep in mind). It’s clear they haven’t spent much time together – she lives with her mother in Glasgow; you moved to London-, there are many things that do not know each other, but there is something in that sentimental relationship that prevails. There will be the inconveniences, typical of Sophie’s age, but also of her father, who suffers from the removal of her ex, and who wants to build a happy future.
Multi-nominated
The film, multi-nominated at the Awards for independent spirits This Tuesday is built from moments, from the intimacy of the protagonists, whether they are together or apart. Sophie doesn’t show much interest in making friends at the resort they are staying at, but she will take every game or outing she is offered. And Calum…
Calum will expose his immaturity, but not in front of his daughter, but in front of the eyes of the spectator, for example, by throwing himself one night into the sea. Well, he’ll also pass out from sleep and drunkenness, naked on his stomach, on the bed in the room he shares with his daughter.
And there is a moment, not a breakup, but in which the complicity between her and her father is at stake. It’s karaoke night and Sophie wrote them both. Calum doesn’t want to know anything, so she leaves, alone, and she hums rather off key. Losing my Religionfrom REM. His father’s welcome upon his return will not exactly be pleasant, but rather unexpected and painful.
But it is that sanguine complicity that makes everything recombine, rearm and that feeling of inner peace prevail.
What the director gets is curious, strange and welcome, because expressing emotions on the screen without being stilted, sweet or with recalcitrant comments, which is the most common thing in today’s cinema.
after sun It is also a film about coming of age of Sophie, this girl who discovers her first kiss, who is opening up to new experiences, who begins to go through adolescence and who is not afraid to express anything.
How well it works and how well director Charlotte Wells reflects it.
“After Sun”
Very good
Drama. United Kingdom/United States, 2022. 102′, SAM 13. Of: Charlotte Wells. With: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio. Rooms: Cinépolis Recoleta, Cinemark Palermo, Showcase Belgrano and Norte.
Source: Clarin
