Aftersun

One memory can contain the essence of an entire relationship, but also inherently represents a moment that can never be returned to. All this film really is, at its core, is a memory. It's a snapshot in time, neatly thematically tied with the home video footage. But at the same time it's incomplete; it's fractured. There's an interesting connection to Lost Highway here - odd as it seems, I see a fair bit of Lynch in this (very strangely) - but there's a real thematic tie-in. Memory is inherently subjective: we remember one specific version of things, whether it's the truth or not. Aftersun does a fantastic job of showing us a memory, then an extension of that memory, and then a literal, photographic snapshot - just another incomplete truth. It's all framed as a way of not just looking at events, but at people. As we look through Sophie's eyes, we see three versions of her father: the one from her childhood, the one from the videos, and the one that really was - who she really did understand, even in the limited scope of her young perspective. While entirely more grounded and real (and maybe this thoughtline is slightly reductive and forced), I can't help but see some Lynch in this split in who her father is (the dreamlike qualities certainly don't hurt the comparison). He's the same person, but there are different versions of him, just like there is in all of us. Lynch expresses this in an extreme, metaphorical form, where Wells sees it as a literal truth, and expresses it through Mescal's nuanced, layered performance. There's even some really neat sequences where we literally see two or three different versions of him at once, in the same scene - it's really well done, and only reinforces the idea. We really feel beautifully immersed in Sophie's psyche - it feels like her journey. We get these abrupt time shifts that bring us back to her, and these amazing, time-breaking club sequences that just tie the whole thing together as a product of Sophie's mind. We see a yearning for connection, a desire to understand others, to understand the relationships between others. One of the most interesting parts of this is how often we look at the relationships between those around Sophie. Not necessarily ones that are just better, or just worse - but different. We see other parents, we see lovers, we see friends - and they're all compared directly to Sophie's relationship with her father. While her father cares for her, another yells at his son. While his father is absent, two lovers find each other in the dark. She's curious, and she wants to learn about what she has, and why certain things might be as they are. Who is her father? Who is she? What do they mean for each other? It's really remarkable how complete of a picture of these two we get from such a short film with such a limited time scope. Everything draws a straight line back to the two of them, and it's all culminated in a beautiful, ethereal conclusion that breaks the barriers of time and reality, mirroring the nature of memory and thought. We're given the literal 'what' of the relationship, now we get the spiritual manifestation of what that really means. Amidst all the anger, resentment, and angst, we still love those who matter to us. A24 | 2022