The Scottish writer-director Charlotte Wells’ minimalist masterpiece “Aftersun” draws us into the lives of a father and daughter on a summer vacation in such a natural and gradual way that we feel like we truly know them as the days and nights go by, and we care deeply about them. And yet it still comes as something of a jolt when the final moments of this movie hit us SO hard, like a sledgehammer to the heart. We will not give away what happens (or doesn’t happen) in those last scenes, other than to say it solidifies our feeling this is one of the best films of 2022.
Some movies are so artificial it feels as if nobody would ever say or do most of the things the characters say and do throughout the journey. With “Aftersun,” every moment, every snippet of dialogue, every detail down to the smallest role or the tiniest detail in the background feels like a vibrant slice of real life. From the opening scene that is filtered through the hazy, grainy lens of a camcorder (remember camcorders?) to the closing credits, this feels real — and yet somewhat dreamlike throughout, like an extended memory.
