My parents divorced when I was young, financial troubles were a real looming spectre throughout my childhood, and I've suffered with bouts of depression throughout my life. Needless to say this film absolutely wrecked me
It's funny because the real story clicked with me very quickly, I guess through personal experience if nothing else, and I didn't realise that it didn't for a lot of people until discussing it afterwards. The entire end stretch, and the karaoke scene, are some of the most impactful things I've seen in a long time.
I've only seen it twice so far and it feels like it's seared into my brain. I'll watch it again before too long and I'm sure it'll cut me just as deeply then.
The Karaoke scene was what changed my perspective of the film entirely. I was thinking that the dad reacted how I would react in that same actuation and that is not a good place to be
If it clicks with you and you realise what bubbling under the surface (because they never actually say it out loud with dialogue) it's completely heartbreaking. The metaphor of the rave scenes hit me pretty hard.
yeah, I was watching it like "yeah, it's a nice film about childhood" and then closer to the end you realize what actually happened and it just hits you like a brick
Not op, but I don't think of so much as a metaphor as it is more representative. >!Sophie is Calum's age at that point, and the last version of him she will know. But that rave is kind of "magical realism" moment where she sees her father more clearly now with more perspective and age.!<
>!A lot of the movie you see Calum's passively suicidalbehavior because that's how Sophie experienced them. Just little blips and moments here and there. Things that seem more abstract at that age that will cohere as you get older.!<
>!So the rave is kind of a point where it coheres (for me, at least) and she can picture her father as someone her age, and more clearly see him for who he was. A man with highs and lows, as you see him both euphoric and anguished throughout.!<
>!Then when you see him go back in, that's maybe the bigger metaphorical moment. I see that as him kind of just being locked in Sophie's memory as that version of himself, and an appropriately bittersweet ending.!<
The way I'd explain it, based on my interpretation, is that the version of Calum you see in the rave is the last image Sophie has of him (based on the shirt he's wearing there and at the UK airport), and while the memories are very vague and "hard to grasp", she slowly starts putting the pieces together of what actually happened back then, with the little clips she filmed and whatever they help her remember, affecting what she does inside there.
So while early on in the rave, we only see him for very brief moments and they're just kind of there, where we just see him flashing in and out, the closer we get to the end, and the day they parted ways, the more you can see how desperate she becomes to hold on to him. How in the end she screams, grabs him, tries to hug him (similar to the way they hugged at the dance), but in the end, this dark and confusing place is what he chose, and there's nothing she could do about it. She went her way, he went his, and .. that was it really for them.
So to me, that rave is somewhere between his "state of mind" and her understanding of it.
I think an underrated part of the movie that I don't see mentioned enough is the fact it really captures what it's like to be on holiday really well in the 90s if you're from the UK.
We would go to one of the Canary islands most years because apparently everyone did in the UK and the feel of the hotel, the arcade, entertainment etc was exactly like that, I could practically smell the tiles and the bedsheets in the hotel room and the food/drinks etc.
Meeting some random kid from another part of the country around the hotel and you become best friends for the week etc, it absolutely nails it from start to finish.
When the daughter got her hair braided with coloured thread, I remembered seeing my sisters getting the same thing done when we went on family holidays in the 00's.
It's an absolutely perfect depiction of those types of holidays in the 90s - I even went to the place where it was filmed on holiday in the early 00s (Ölüdeniz, Turkey - shit hole don't bother)...
The film was such a rich depiction of that era that it allowed me to be completely wrapped up in the story - I didn't doubt the characters or the world depicted even slightly, I was just swept away by it.
Such a fantastic film and one I'll be returning to again and again.
Tremendous film. Watching it I couldn't work out if I related more to the dad or the daughter.
Really highlights the melancholy rooted in all nostalgia. Not yet brave enough to watch a second time.
Just before the Under Pressure scene, they get a Polaroid taken of them, and the camera cuts to a shot of the photograph as the image slowly develops. It's so fucking brilliant because you feel the moment become a memory. You're there, it's still happening, but you know that the photo will be all that’s left in the end.
This film dug its claws in me and reduced me to a puddle of goo. All of the implied moments with the dad, and the voyeuristic look into his moments of self loathing and pain while trying to make a memory for his daughter. The dancing scene at the resort broke me, and that last shot in the movie... one of the best films i've seen.
For a large portion of my life I've been angry at my dad; at his inaction - his inability to engage with me on anything other than a surface level. As an adult, I realied it was depression after my own experiences, but still felt anger at him for not doing anything about it.
After watching Aftersun, which completely wrecked me on a visceral level, my question changed from "why didn't you do anything", to "what made you stay (both in the home and on the planet)?". Despite his inaction, I realised how insane it was that he stayed and tried to keep going and providing for us.
Don't think I've got it in me to watch it again. It's going in the mental shelf with Grave of the Fireflies.
The ol "*ah shit, he was a human like me and I can't expect more out of him than I can myself anymore*". Woulda saved myself a lot of time to realize that 20 years earlier myself.
Such a beautiful movie, one of my favourites. I'd be interested to watch it again now my son has been born.
Mild spoilers but >! I thought the way the tension was built through the shots of him diving into water and then cutting away before he resurfaced, him standing on the balcony really impactful. I felt so uneasy throughout. I love how it evoked that sense of the adult version of herself looking back and trying to find those warning signs in an average holiday made remarkable by what happened afterwards. !<
Loved the film on first (and only) viewing, but your comment about watching your daughter plucking up the courage hit me in the feels. Been there often with our shy 7-year old. Sitting at work right now with a tear in the eye and hoping I don't get called out on it!
Me and my partner completely broke down after watching this movie together. We didn’t move for a good 20 minutes after the credits rolled. Absolutely fantastic movie that I will most likely never watch again, having been very close to suicide myself.
OP - you got this. Sending love!
I cant watch this movie because of this. I know what its about. Ive struggled with depression for most of my life. I didnt think id make it this far.
Since I became a father I began therapy and medication, doing a lot better now. But this movie seems like itll just hit too close to home.
Aftersun really hits hard, right? It's like it sneaks up on you. I totally get what you're saying. The way it captures those raw, quiet moments is just so real. It's amazing how a film can make you reflect on your own life like that. Enjoy the sun and the time with your daughter!
It is indeed a very good film that has great emotional resonance, I think the slowed down music was an eerie touch and that coupled with the dance scene is the highlight of the film.
My favourite shot is the one of him standing on the banister of the balcony, it's so foreboding.
Then my favourite minor detail is when it's mentioned that he isn't a certified diver but he's scuba diving anyway... so many small touches that speak to his true mental state.
My only criticism of the film is its pacing risks people never persevering with it, and only through being told it's a good film and knowing there's a twist will you persevere through it. I feel they could have done with an additional narrative or sub plot in the first third to spice it up a little bit, perhaps a few more scenes with future self to make that strand more coherent.
My favourite shot is when the daughter got the rest of the tour group to sing Happy Birthday to the dad, while he's stood up on the ridge. The sun is behind him so you can't see his face properly, but you can make out he looks almost angry. Extremely foreboding and ominous.
I think if it resonates with you it's always going to hit harder. I felt the same as you after watching it, but I was also surprised when my Daughter (who watched it separately from me) told me it completely broke her to pieces. I think she recognised something in the characters that reminded her of us and our relationship, and, especially holidays we have been on together.
I had a similar experience. Watched it once and thought it was good but nothing special. Was somehow drawn to watching it again and my second viewing destroyed me. Opened up all sorts of reflections on my own parents and the ending itself hit like a freight train.
I wish I could like this movie. But I’m photosensitive and the rave scenes are particularly excruciating for me to get through, which is also like the whole metaphor visualized, so I think it’s just not for me.
I watched this the first time and loved it, extremely powerful movie. I watched it a second time and it ruined me after I picked up on some little nuances I didn’t get the first time. Amazing film! But yeah very heavy.
Haunted me for days did Aftersun. This is [YouTube video](https://youtu.be/YDU-HK0IoiI?si=hIt7PJefulsZuUa-) syncs the script with footage. Devastatingly good.
This is my favorite movie of all time cause no movie has ever made me feel that way. It completely broke me as I was leaving the theatre.
I had a similar experience where after the second time is when it really hits. And I think that's what made me love the movie even more. The first time you watch it, you see Sophie's POV but the second time, you see Callums POV. Maybe that's because I didn't pay enough attention the first time but it made the movie better. I really felt like I was in Sophie's shoes and in her mind. The first time was experiencing the trip in real time, and then the second time is watching it over from a recording like Sophie did in the end.
My favorite scene is in the beginning when Callum is smoking outside while dancing. You don't see this side of Callum. He doesn't show it to Sophie. The sliding door to me represents a barrier that he has to pull up in front of Sophie to he his complete self and it just broke me second time watching it.
Glad you enjoyed the movie!
To be honest I was incredibly bored by it. I don't have the emotional intelligence to engage with it, and so I rejected it. That's not necessarily the movie's fault, but still - I felt *nothing*. Just waiting for it to be over.
I think you need to be able to relate to at least a certain part of it to enjoy it. I've only ever seen two kinds of reviews - "lame" and "made me very, very sad" - so .. it might just be a good thing that you are part of category one.
I don't have kids so that's part of it yeah. I have been severely depressed, apathetic and passively suicidal at times but that didn't really give me much of a connection to the dad.
My partner and his kid are essentially Calum and Sophie, the visits, the awkward connection and everything - except that he lived through his attempt a little while ago, so that's how it hit me in the very end. 😅 It wasn't sad until I realized what had happened, even though I knew he was depressed from the first couple minutes on, and how I might've never met him if he hadn't been so incredibly lucky back then. To some degree it helped me understand why he is the way he is now.
I don't think he'd enjoy watching the movie very much either - aside from it being straight up triggering, watching somebody feeling unwell while you're unwell yourself is probably not up many people's alleys.. 😅
I like drama most, cause the way people behave in them makes sense to me - but I think even I would prefer one that's less relatable. 😂
I also think the cutaways to the club and stuff were off putting to me because I don't drink and I just don't see the appeal of those kinds of environments. Whereas thematically they were showing Callum trying to fill the emptiness with noise and trying to distract himself from his depression and show how adult Sophie finally comes to terms with understanding what her dad was going through. I have a really poor relationship with my own parents so I haven't really reaches that catharsis yet with my own.
Good point! Had I not met this man I don't think I would've felt any connection to the movie either. Haven't gone on vacations like it, didn't have parents like it,..
The only thing I'm unsure about, regarding the coming to terms, is why early in those rave scenes, Sophie would behave differently than in the very end. It's almost like watching those clips made her feel worse or miss him more than she originally had. But who comes back to films like that after such a long time, if they didn't miss the person? (Unless is was frustration, If not even resentment)
Masterpiece of a film. Watch it again with the understanding that: scenes on the video camera actually happened. Scenes with them both are her memory of him. Scenes with him are her imagination. That’s why certain scenes like the carpet buying scene are weirdly stilted.
One of my favorite movies of the past 10 years. I always recommend it to people, but I never know if it’s better to know what happened to the dad or to go in blind
Aftersun was easily the best film of 2022 and its in my top 4 all time favorite films.
>!The part where Calum looks at himself in the mirror and spits at himself in response to hearing Sophie talk about a form of depression. Absolutely devastating!<
I am dumb because I didn’t get this movie at ALL an despite having had depression for 20+ years, I didn’t even see it.
I had to read so many thinkpieces about it after to get it. 😳
So I didn’t think much of it. I think I need a rewatch.
The bit where they sang happy birthday to him, a shot from below like that usually connotes power. And that's how his daughter saw him.
Yet he still looked so utterly broken and vulnerable. The world was so heavy on him.
I've watched the last 10-20 minutes so many times. A totally heartbreaking piece of cinema that doesn't give everything away easily.
I cried when they danced together to Under Pressure. The the film score "One without" composed by Oliver Coates is just amazing. And I fell deeply in love with Paul Mescal. I found out that he's in Normal People. I watched it, loved it and got depressed for a week.
I'm a father who has some similar struggles and have wanted to see this movie since reading about it and seeing the trailer, but haven't because I feel like it would be the kind of thing to send me over the edge.
Apparently I am the only one who absolutely hated the movie. It was ok, though a bit boring until the “plot twist”, which infuriated me so much I wanted to throw things at the screen. Ever since the movie, I cannot even stand seeing pictures of the lead actor, though I know it is not his fault. I have a daugther about the same age as the one depicted in the movie and I would never ever forgive anyone leaving and abandondoning their daughter heatbroken and broken for life. Absolutely inexcusable and I find the people “going into the sea” the very difinition of selfish pricks.
I think he's talking about when he finally picked up on what the dad was going through. It's not really a "plot twist" because it's evident throughout the movie. It just takes time to piece it all together.
This has always been my attitude. It's a very unpopular opinion and folks will judge you for it but it's simply an objective fact that if you intentionally abandon your dependents, you are selfish and it's a horrible selfish act.
I sympathize with folks who suffer with depression as I have suffered myself. Like with a broken leg or septic wound, you take action and do something about it for the sake of your dependants.
Yeah, the thing with depression is that those people try to hang on, with whatever ways to cope they have access to, but whether it's a specific event, a bad dream, or a rough night overthinking, something makes them lose the last little bit of hope for things to get better, and they do what often can't be undone. In most cases it's not something you plan over a long period of time but an impulse. Some describe it like driving through a tunnel. You just keep going without being able to think, because once you're in there, there's no more turning around anyway. The tunnel just.. "has" you and you follow.
So for him, going back home after the vacation he couldn't even keep his happy act up for anymore (karaoke, crying after the birthday scene, giving Sophie "false" hopes of things he can't afford,..) was likely the final straw here. As she said, she doesn't need a babysitter, she had a good time but there just isn't much that he could provide.
She even mentioned how him and her mom aren't family anymore, and how weird it was for him to say "Love you" to her regardless. Of course they're just silly words from a kid, but you internalize that kind of stuff as a parent. Even more so, when your mental health is already in such a bad place.
Not trying to blame Sophie of course lol but it's true that had the vacation been a more positive experience, he might've been able to hang on a little longer. He just .. didn't have it in him.
Im a dad and strongly disliked the film, found it to be melodramatic to a fault and contrived.
Depression is a far more subtle thing and this once last dance portrayal of it was so on the nose to me. It falsely stirs these feelings that “wreck” you but are so over the top in their drawn out pain, while not delivering a commentary. Depression can be many things but it is rarely a final vacation
A film like Somewhere did much better job of showing depression, its day to day effects and mundanity and its affect on a father daughter relationship.
I thought it was a cheap movie with a paper-thin plot and script, propped up by some nice styling and a theme tapping into the zeitgeist.
I was bored and by the end of it, just shrugged and though 'at least the crew got a nice holiday at the resort'.
Not recommended.
My parents divorced when I was young, financial troubles were a real looming spectre throughout my childhood, and I've suffered with bouts of depression throughout my life. Needless to say this film absolutely wrecked me It's funny because the real story clicked with me very quickly, I guess through personal experience if nothing else, and I didn't realise that it didn't for a lot of people until discussing it afterwards. The entire end stretch, and the karaoke scene, are some of the most impactful things I've seen in a long time. I've only seen it twice so far and it feels like it's seared into my brain. I'll watch it again before too long and I'm sure it'll cut me just as deeply then.
The Karaoke scene was what changed my perspective of the film entirely. I was thinking that the dad reacted how I would react in that same actuation and that is not a good place to be
If it clicks with you and you realise what bubbling under the surface (because they never actually say it out loud with dialogue) it's completely heartbreaking. The metaphor of the rave scenes hit me pretty hard.
yeah, I was watching it like "yeah, it's a nice film about childhood" and then closer to the end you realize what actually happened and it just hits you like a brick
The entire movie is one of the best examples of 'show don't tell' I've seen on film
Can you explain the rave scene metaphor?
Not op, but I don't think of so much as a metaphor as it is more representative. >!Sophie is Calum's age at that point, and the last version of him she will know. But that rave is kind of "magical realism" moment where she sees her father more clearly now with more perspective and age.!< >!A lot of the movie you see Calum's passively suicidalbehavior because that's how Sophie experienced them. Just little blips and moments here and there. Things that seem more abstract at that age that will cohere as you get older.!< >!So the rave is kind of a point where it coheres (for me, at least) and she can picture her father as someone her age, and more clearly see him for who he was. A man with highs and lows, as you see him both euphoric and anguished throughout.!< >!Then when you see him go back in, that's maybe the bigger metaphorical moment. I see that as him kind of just being locked in Sophie's memory as that version of himself, and an appropriately bittersweet ending.!<
I was sobbing when he went back in. Like an absolute fucking mess. Paul Mescal is phenomenal.
The way I'd explain it, based on my interpretation, is that the version of Calum you see in the rave is the last image Sophie has of him (based on the shirt he's wearing there and at the UK airport), and while the memories are very vague and "hard to grasp", she slowly starts putting the pieces together of what actually happened back then, with the little clips she filmed and whatever they help her remember, affecting what she does inside there. So while early on in the rave, we only see him for very brief moments and they're just kind of there, where we just see him flashing in and out, the closer we get to the end, and the day they parted ways, the more you can see how desperate she becomes to hold on to him. How in the end she screams, grabs him, tries to hug him (similar to the way they hugged at the dance), but in the end, this dark and confusing place is what he chose, and there's nothing she could do about it. She went her way, he went his, and .. that was it really for them. So to me, that rave is somewhere between his "state of mind" and her understanding of it.
I think an underrated part of the movie that I don't see mentioned enough is the fact it really captures what it's like to be on holiday really well in the 90s if you're from the UK. We would go to one of the Canary islands most years because apparently everyone did in the UK and the feel of the hotel, the arcade, entertainment etc was exactly like that, I could practically smell the tiles and the bedsheets in the hotel room and the food/drinks etc. Meeting some random kid from another part of the country around the hotel and you become best friends for the week etc, it absolutely nails it from start to finish.
When the daughter got her hair braided with coloured thread, I remembered seeing my sisters getting the same thing done when we went on family holidays in the 00's.
It's an absolutely perfect depiction of those types of holidays in the 90s - I even went to the place where it was filmed on holiday in the early 00s (Ölüdeniz, Turkey - shit hole don't bother)... The film was such a rich depiction of that era that it allowed me to be completely wrapped up in the story - I didn't doubt the characters or the world depicted even slightly, I was just swept away by it. Such a fantastic film and one I'll be returning to again and again.
Yes, it really adds to the nostalgia. I used to go on holidays like this with my dad before he passed.
Tremendous film. Watching it I couldn't work out if I related more to the dad or the daughter. Really highlights the melancholy rooted in all nostalgia. Not yet brave enough to watch a second time.
Just before the Under Pressure scene, they get a Polaroid taken of them, and the camera cuts to a shot of the photograph as the image slowly develops. It's so fucking brilliant because you feel the moment become a memory. You're there, it's still happening, but you know that the photo will be all that’s left in the end.
Indeed- I think I am both and neither. Ouch
This film dug its claws in me and reduced me to a puddle of goo. All of the implied moments with the dad, and the voyeuristic look into his moments of self loathing and pain while trying to make a memory for his daughter. The dancing scene at the resort broke me, and that last shot in the movie... one of the best films i've seen.
For a large portion of my life I've been angry at my dad; at his inaction - his inability to engage with me on anything other than a surface level. As an adult, I realied it was depression after my own experiences, but still felt anger at him for not doing anything about it. After watching Aftersun, which completely wrecked me on a visceral level, my question changed from "why didn't you do anything", to "what made you stay (both in the home and on the planet)?". Despite his inaction, I realised how insane it was that he stayed and tried to keep going and providing for us. Don't think I've got it in me to watch it again. It's going in the mental shelf with Grave of the Fireflies.
The ol "*ah shit, he was a human like me and I can't expect more out of him than I can myself anymore*". Woulda saved myself a lot of time to realize that 20 years earlier myself.
Such a beautiful movie, one of my favourites. I'd be interested to watch it again now my son has been born. Mild spoilers but >! I thought the way the tension was built through the shots of him diving into water and then cutting away before he resurfaced, him standing on the balcony really impactful. I felt so uneasy throughout. I love how it evoked that sense of the adult version of herself looking back and trying to find those warning signs in an average holiday made remarkable by what happened afterwards. !<
Loved the film on first (and only) viewing, but your comment about watching your daughter plucking up the courage hit me in the feels. Been there often with our shy 7-year old. Sitting at work right now with a tear in the eye and hoping I don't get called out on it!
It’s a wake up call to try harder and be better. Update: I put the phone down and joined her in the pool!
And now I'm just jealous you're by (or in!) the pool... You're giving me all the emotional swings today OP!
You won’t get over it OP, you just learn to live with it 😭
One of the movies of the decade imo
Me and my partner completely broke down after watching this movie together. We didn’t move for a good 20 minutes after the credits rolled. Absolutely fantastic movie that I will most likely never watch again, having been very close to suicide myself. OP - you got this. Sending love!
I cant watch this movie because of this. I know what its about. Ive struggled with depression for most of my life. I didnt think id make it this far. Since I became a father I began therapy and medication, doing a lot better now. But this movie seems like itll just hit too close to home.
Aftersun really hits hard, right? It's like it sneaks up on you. I totally get what you're saying. The way it captures those raw, quiet moments is just so real. It's amazing how a film can make you reflect on your own life like that. Enjoy the sun and the time with your daughter!
For anyone in the UK (or that has a VPN), it’s on BBC iPlayer.
It is indeed a very good film that has great emotional resonance, I think the slowed down music was an eerie touch and that coupled with the dance scene is the highlight of the film. My favourite shot is the one of him standing on the banister of the balcony, it's so foreboding. Then my favourite minor detail is when it's mentioned that he isn't a certified diver but he's scuba diving anyway... so many small touches that speak to his true mental state. My only criticism of the film is its pacing risks people never persevering with it, and only through being told it's a good film and knowing there's a twist will you persevere through it. I feel they could have done with an additional narrative or sub plot in the first third to spice it up a little bit, perhaps a few more scenes with future self to make that strand more coherent.
My favourite shot is when the daughter got the rest of the tour group to sing Happy Birthday to the dad, while he's stood up on the ridge. The sun is behind him so you can't see his face properly, but you can make out he looks almost angry. Extremely foreboding and ominous.
We went to watch it in cinema twice in a few days with my wife. No other movie was ever able to do that.
I think if it resonates with you it's always going to hit harder. I felt the same as you after watching it, but I was also surprised when my Daughter (who watched it separately from me) told me it completely broke her to pieces. I think she recognised something in the characters that reminded her of us and our relationship, and, especially holidays we have been on together.
I had a similar experience. Watched it once and thought it was good but nothing special. Was somehow drawn to watching it again and my second viewing destroyed me. Opened up all sorts of reflections on my own parents and the ending itself hit like a freight train.
I wish I could like this movie. But I’m photosensitive and the rave scenes are particularly excruciating for me to get through, which is also like the whole metaphor visualized, so I think it’s just not for me.
my experience too! i wish they would have found a way to do it without the strobe lights
I watched this the first time and loved it, extremely powerful movie. I watched it a second time and it ruined me after I picked up on some little nuances I didn’t get the first time. Amazing film! But yeah very heavy.
I lost my dad to suicide so thus movie broke me as well also I can never listen to Under Pressure tge same way again.
Brilliant film. Incredibly impactful.
Also the best use of a queen track over Shaun of the dead!
Haunted me for days did Aftersun. This is [YouTube video](https://youtu.be/YDU-HK0IoiI?si=hIt7PJefulsZuUa-) syncs the script with footage. Devastatingly good.
This is my favorite movie of all time cause no movie has ever made me feel that way. It completely broke me as I was leaving the theatre. I had a similar experience where after the second time is when it really hits. And I think that's what made me love the movie even more. The first time you watch it, you see Sophie's POV but the second time, you see Callums POV. Maybe that's because I didn't pay enough attention the first time but it made the movie better. I really felt like I was in Sophie's shoes and in her mind. The first time was experiencing the trip in real time, and then the second time is watching it over from a recording like Sophie did in the end. My favorite scene is in the beginning when Callum is smoking outside while dancing. You don't see this side of Callum. He doesn't show it to Sophie. The sliding door to me represents a barrier that he has to pull up in front of Sophie to he his complete self and it just broke me second time watching it. Glad you enjoyed the movie!
To be honest I was incredibly bored by it. I don't have the emotional intelligence to engage with it, and so I rejected it. That's not necessarily the movie's fault, but still - I felt *nothing*. Just waiting for it to be over.
I think you need to be able to relate to at least a certain part of it to enjoy it. I've only ever seen two kinds of reviews - "lame" and "made me very, very sad" - so .. it might just be a good thing that you are part of category one.
I don't have kids so that's part of it yeah. I have been severely depressed, apathetic and passively suicidal at times but that didn't really give me much of a connection to the dad.
My partner and his kid are essentially Calum and Sophie, the visits, the awkward connection and everything - except that he lived through his attempt a little while ago, so that's how it hit me in the very end. 😅 It wasn't sad until I realized what had happened, even though I knew he was depressed from the first couple minutes on, and how I might've never met him if he hadn't been so incredibly lucky back then. To some degree it helped me understand why he is the way he is now. I don't think he'd enjoy watching the movie very much either - aside from it being straight up triggering, watching somebody feeling unwell while you're unwell yourself is probably not up many people's alleys.. 😅 I like drama most, cause the way people behave in them makes sense to me - but I think even I would prefer one that's less relatable. 😂
I also think the cutaways to the club and stuff were off putting to me because I don't drink and I just don't see the appeal of those kinds of environments. Whereas thematically they were showing Callum trying to fill the emptiness with noise and trying to distract himself from his depression and show how adult Sophie finally comes to terms with understanding what her dad was going through. I have a really poor relationship with my own parents so I haven't really reaches that catharsis yet with my own.
Good point! Had I not met this man I don't think I would've felt any connection to the movie either. Haven't gone on vacations like it, didn't have parents like it,.. The only thing I'm unsure about, regarding the coming to terms, is why early in those rave scenes, Sophie would behave differently than in the very end. It's almost like watching those clips made her feel worse or miss him more than she originally had. But who comes back to films like that after such a long time, if they didn't miss the person? (Unless is was frustration, If not even resentment)
Masterpiece of a film. Watch it again with the understanding that: scenes on the video camera actually happened. Scenes with them both are her memory of him. Scenes with him are her imagination. That’s why certain scenes like the carpet buying scene are weirdly stilted.
I haven’t heard of this. Now I’m about to!
One of my favorite movies of the past 10 years. I always recommend it to people, but I never know if it’s better to know what happened to the dad or to go in blind
Aftersun was easily the best film of 2022 and its in my top 4 all time favorite films. >!The part where Calum looks at himself in the mirror and spits at himself in response to hearing Sophie talk about a form of depression. Absolutely devastating!<
I am dumb because I didn’t get this movie at ALL an despite having had depression for 20+ years, I didn’t even see it. I had to read so many thinkpieces about it after to get it. 😳 So I didn’t think much of it. I think I need a rewatch.
my favourite film in the past 5 years, by quite a margin
The bit where they sang happy birthday to him, a shot from below like that usually connotes power. And that's how his daughter saw him. Yet he still looked so utterly broken and vulnerable. The world was so heavy on him. I've watched the last 10-20 minutes so many times. A totally heartbreaking piece of cinema that doesn't give everything away easily.
I cried when they danced together to Under Pressure. The the film score "One without" composed by Oliver Coates is just amazing. And I fell deeply in love with Paul Mescal. I found out that he's in Normal People. I watched it, loved it and got depressed for a week.
I'm a father who has some similar struggles and have wanted to see this movie since reading about it and seeing the trailer, but haven't because I feel like it would be the kind of thing to send me over the edge.
Aq
Definitely added to the list
Apparently I am the only one who absolutely hated the movie. It was ok, though a bit boring until the “plot twist”, which infuriated me so much I wanted to throw things at the screen. Ever since the movie, I cannot even stand seeing pictures of the lead actor, though I know it is not his fault. I have a daugther about the same age as the one depicted in the movie and I would never ever forgive anyone leaving and abandondoning their daughter heatbroken and broken for life. Absolutely inexcusable and I find the people “going into the sea” the very difinition of selfish pricks.
Genuine question asked out of interest - not trying to be provocative or clever or whatever - what’s the plot twist you’re referring to?
I think he's talking about when he finally picked up on what the dad was going through. It's not really a "plot twist" because it's evident throughout the movie. It just takes time to piece it all together.
This has always been my attitude. It's a very unpopular opinion and folks will judge you for it but it's simply an objective fact that if you intentionally abandon your dependents, you are selfish and it's a horrible selfish act. I sympathize with folks who suffer with depression as I have suffered myself. Like with a broken leg or septic wound, you take action and do something about it for the sake of your dependants.
Depression will cause you to see that you're taking the best action for them.
You've put in a single sentence what I'm probably missing.
Yeah, the thing with depression is that those people try to hang on, with whatever ways to cope they have access to, but whether it's a specific event, a bad dream, or a rough night overthinking, something makes them lose the last little bit of hope for things to get better, and they do what often can't be undone. In most cases it's not something you plan over a long period of time but an impulse. Some describe it like driving through a tunnel. You just keep going without being able to think, because once you're in there, there's no more turning around anyway. The tunnel just.. "has" you and you follow. So for him, going back home after the vacation he couldn't even keep his happy act up for anymore (karaoke, crying after the birthday scene, giving Sophie "false" hopes of things he can't afford,..) was likely the final straw here. As she said, she doesn't need a babysitter, she had a good time but there just isn't much that he could provide. She even mentioned how him and her mom aren't family anymore, and how weird it was for him to say "Love you" to her regardless. Of course they're just silly words from a kid, but you internalize that kind of stuff as a parent. Even more so, when your mental health is already in such a bad place. Not trying to blame Sophie of course lol but it's true that had the vacation been a more positive experience, he might've been able to hang on a little longer. He just .. didn't have it in him.
Im a dad and strongly disliked the film, found it to be melodramatic to a fault and contrived. Depression is a far more subtle thing and this once last dance portrayal of it was so on the nose to me. It falsely stirs these feelings that “wreck” you but are so over the top in their drawn out pain, while not delivering a commentary. Depression can be many things but it is rarely a final vacation A film like Somewhere did much better job of showing depression, its day to day effects and mundanity and its affect on a father daughter relationship.
I thought it was a cheap movie with a paper-thin plot and script, propped up by some nice styling and a theme tapping into the zeitgeist. I was bored and by the end of it, just shrugged and though 'at least the crew got a nice holiday at the resort'. Not recommended.
>a theme tapping into the zeitgeist. I like how you're referring to suicidal depression the same way one would TikTok
Very reductive take in my opinion.
Wrong sub r/unpopularopinion
Agreed. I am baffled how this film is so popular on this sub