Aftersun

Depression is an incredibly unpredictable and terrifying force. In Aftersun, it acts like a lingering ghost hiding beneath the sunny surface of a father-daughter holiday in Turkey. Sometimes, we can momentarily distract ourselves by immersing ourselves in joyful moments: swimming, laughing, or capturing memories on a miniDV camcorder. Yet, the truly frightening part is that the darkness never completely fades away. It forever lurks in the recesses of the subconscious, just waiting to resurface and plunge us into suffering and self-doubt. The film is a masterpiece of subtlety. It doesn't rely on heavy melodrama; instead, the profound sadness is woven delicately into quiet glances, unspoken words, and the fragmented memories of young Sophie. In this story, both the one who is left behind and the one who has departed evoke a deep sense of sympathy. Aftersun leaves us grappling with a haunting dilemma: should we torment ourselves, obsessively replaying old footage to find out why someone decided to leave this world, or should we simply accept the unanswerable and keep moving forward? I don't think there is a completely right or wrong choice.