Aftersun

"Why can't we just stay here?" I’ll never hear Under Pressure the same way again, a brilliant choice of song and a perfect scene. The zoom in on that hug as they’re dancing made my heart ache. You can imagine older Sophie thinking about what it felt like to be able to hold her dad close, remembering what they shared, now knowing what her childhood self didn’t. *It’s the terror of knowing what this world is about Watching some good friends screaming, “Let me out”* This movie cleverly captures how childhood memories can feel. Even the joyful ones bring tears to your eyes, because they also feel like something you’ve lost and can never get back. No matter how much you want to, it’s gone. In this case, that loss of childhood is coupled with the loss of a person, and memories of them that can never be experienced in the same blissful way they were lived. *And love dares you to change our way of Caring about ourselves This is our last dance This is our last dance This is ourselves Under pressure* Aftersun doesn’t want to make you cry. It doesn’t resort to cheap tricks to solicit a reaction, you have to let it in. I was bracing myself quite a bit throughout, knowing the subject matter, and decided to replay the last 15 minutes after finishing it. That’s when I let out the sobs stuck in my chest.