This quietly devastating drama is the sort of thing that only gets more powerful the longer you think about it, finding most of its success thanks to its intangibly tangible afterburn. Much like the gentle afternoon sun itself, the piece's power goes mostly unnoticed until you realise, long after you've removed yourself from its glare, that it has left an indelible mark with a noticeable need to be soothed. Although its title would imply that it also acts as the balm to settle such a sore, 'Aftersun (2022)' doesn't actually do much in the way of easing the melancholy it itself provokes. It's a really, really sad movie that only gets more sad the more you turn it over in your mind. Telling its seemingly simple story of a father and daughter's time abroad using a mixture of memories and videotape, the flick plays around with linearity to such an extent that its events can take on an entirely new meaning - or, at least, its ambiguities can be partially answered - if you take the time to consider the implications of its potentially 'true' chronology. The narrative is incredibly slow and it only deals with traditional conflict as it approaches its final third, but ultimately it's exactly what it needs to be in order to have the effect it does. It's odd that the in-the-moment experience is markedly worse than its lingering aftermath, not just because it's the in-the-moment experience that directly causes said aftermath but also because it risks alienating its audience. The ambiguous affair never feeds you the answers, only ever alluding to what it's actually about, and this does mean you have to be willing to put in the work to allow it to do its magic. It's a bold choice, but I feel it pays off in the end. Besides which, even if you don't quite know why, the film certainly leaves you feeling melancholic. That it stays with you despite - or, perhaps, because of - its unwillingness to make itself an easier watch is especially impressive. Though I can't deny I was somewhat bored during the first half, I also can't deny that the movie has continued to have an effect in the days since I watched it. As such, one has to wonder if it was ever really boring at all. In either case, this is an undeniably fantastic slice of filmmaking. The cinematography, shot composition and blocking are often incredibly unique, at once conveying the fuzziness of memory and the blissful mundanity of a relaxing holiday. The performances and direction combine to create a realistic experience that feels pseudo-documentarian at times, which ultimately makes the narrative's implied epilogue all the more sorrowful. In the end, this is a distinct and affecting picture that deals principally in ambiguities and doesn't do any work on the part of the audience but is all the more rewarding for it. It's a hard one to quantify, in a way, because its in-the-moment experience contrasts fairly heavily with its overall, principally reflexive effect.
