Aftersun (2022)

Aftersun is an indie drama of superb technical craftsmanship that reconstructs a holiday trip between father and daughter from Sophie's adult memory. Charlotte Wells' direction is precise and sensitive, and Paul Mescal crafts a heartbreaking portrayal of a father who deeply loves his daughter while struggling with severe depression, which the film suggests culminated in suicide. The issue does not lie in the main plotline — an honest account of mental health and imperfect parenthood — but rather in an element that the work introduces seamlessly: adult Sophie has a wife, thereby normalizing the redefinition of the family. Additionally, child Sophie witnesses two men kissing at the resort, presented as part of the landscape without question. The film does not make this a central theme, but that silent naturalization is precisely the most effective way to embed as normal something that is not. The melancholy that envelops the work and its artistic quality may allow the ideological content to pass unobserved, but parents should be aware of it before considering its viewing. Due to its quality as a psychological drama and its R certification, it is directed at adults, but the underlying concern makes it unsuitable for family discernment.