Aftersun

relevant as a father's day AND men's mental health month hybrid watch. the camera work is hypnotic and captivating that's unlike almost anything else i've seen. the visual language plays such a heavy role in telling the story as a russian doll of snapshots and bits of camcorder footage and disjointed memories. it captures the feeling of remembering so well, it feels like it could be a family trip you were on as a kid and only barely recall the details. i love all the little nuances of dialogue that never crosses the line to spell anything out for us, but almost everything is natural and implied. even the way Calum asks how much the polaroid photo is that gets taken of him and Sophie at dinner toward the end of the movie carries so much weight: apprehension, guilt, reservation, baggage, courage.  the juxtaposition between father and daughter on vacation, a man struggling with place and purpose, a daughter, who as a girl is on a journey of discovery, and as a woman is forging ahead while revisiting and reflecting on the past. the scenes where we're looking at these characters, not directly, but through a reflection in a mirror or tv screen that's also capturing them and freezing them in time on video - it's all a way of highlighting the layers that exist within every moment and every person.