From writer-director Charlotte Wells, “Aftersun” tells the story of an 11-year-old girl’s vacation with her young father. A new trailer for the acclaimed drama provides snapshots of the pair’s sun-soaked beach holiday in Turkey, which includes time spent frolicking in the sea and a messy trip to a mud bath. In between all of the action, the pre-teen and her dad open up to each other and connect with candid conversations.
Asked by Sophie (newcomer Frankie Corio) if he’ll ever move back home, Calum (Paul Mescal, “Normal People”), explains, “There’s this feeling once you leave where you’re from that you don’t totally belong there again.” Both Sophie and Calum are in transitional periods — she’s on the verge of adolescence, and he’s struggling to figure out exactly who he is outside of being a father. “You never know where you’ll end up,” he tells Sophie. “You can live wherever you want to live. Be whoever you want to be. You have time.” Unspoken but implied is the fact that he doesn’t have that same luxury.
“Aftersun” made its world premiere at Cannes Critics’ Week earlier this year. It won the new French Touch Prize of the Jury, an honor that “aims to shine a light on an act of cinema that features creativity and boldness.”
Wells has described the film, which marks her feature debut, as “emotionally autobiographical.” She told The Scotsman, “I didn’t go on this holiday, but there’s a lot of me in it.”
“Aftersun” hits theaters October 21.
