Aftersun (2022)Scottish writer-director Charlotte Wells’ debut feature Aftersun is among the film festival circuit’s most acclaimed offerings of 2022. Since its debut at Cannes in May and subsequent screenings at Telluride, Toronto, New York, Melbourne, Adelaide, Edinburgh and the BFI London Film Festival, audiences have been stirred by the sensitive, tactile portrayal of young father Calum (Paul Mescal, a rising star since 2020 BBC TV hit Normal People) and his 11-year-old daughter Sophie (newcomer Frankie Corio) on holiday at a beach resort in Turkey.
The BFI-backed film is set in the late 1990s – with a tail-end-of-Britpop soundtrack to boot – and told from the perspective of an adult Sophie 20 years later (played by Celia Rowlson-Hall). In this highly personal tale of familial bonding, separation anxiety and nostalgic longing, rarely a scene goes by without Mescal and Corio, excellent as the damaged dad and lively pre-pubescent respectively. Tonally, it shares some similarities with Moonlight (2016) and that film’s director, Barry Jenkins, is one of Aftersun’s producers.
In October, Wells posted an image online of her holidaying with her father as a child, with the photo bearing a strong resemblance to Mescal and Corio in the film. Speaking to the pair, there’s a clear affection between them off-screen as well as on, with Corio often chair-dancing or making heart shapes with her fingers while Mescal acts like a kind, gently teasing father.
What were your first impressions of each other?
Paul Mescal: Frankie looked like a little baby. I remember you were wearing your, what was it, Minions jumper? Minions hat? But we improvised the broken wrist scene and Frankie was brilliant.
Frankie Corio: He was really nice, but I never got to speak to him very well until Turkey. Then he was my best mate for two months. He absolutely adores me because I’m such a nice little girl.
Paul: This might sound weird but I wasn’t expecting to become friends with an 11-year-old. I thought those days were past me. But I really enjoyed Frankie’s company and was excited by getting to watch somebody act for the first time, and waiting for an audience to see what I got to see on a daily basis was really exciting.
Did you have a lot of rehearsal time?
Paul: We didn’t really rehearse. It was just fun. We had two weeks before we had to kick off actual filming. We were with Charlotte in the mornings, where we would roughly rehearse. We wouldn’t rehearse the dialogue per se, but would rehearse around what would happen in a scene, and then Charlotte would go away and do director things.
I would pretend to be Frankie’s dad for a bit. It was just mundane holiday activities that you saw in the film. But it was an opportunity for us to form a bond in a non-pressurised environment away from even the director or cameras.
Frankie: We got to eat lots of stuff, that’s the main part. We went in the sea, swam in the pool and learned to play pool, because I can’t play. Everything that you can imagine that you get to do in Turkey – apart from paragliding, because you don’t want to get hurt.
How much in the film is improvised?
Paul: It’s always an interesting question, because what constitutes improvising? Is that lines or is that a feeling? You could say all of it is improvised, but a lot of the dialogue was written. One of the things that jumps into my head is the camcorder scene, where I say that Frankie has a big head. That was improvised. What else had you improvised – “I’m going to record it in my mind-camera”? Big fan of that line.
What advice did Charlotte give you for playing your characters?
Paul: I had lots of conversations with Charlotte. Before I got to Turkey, we would have one or two long-form phone calls a week talking around the character, where he was coming from going into that holiday. We made discoveries throughout it about keeping Calum’s inner struggle a little bit more private from and away from Sophie and Frankie. And that was one of those fun acting challenges that mirrors the character’s struggles. A lot of that was general conversation around Calum’s inner landscape and his capacity to be a really, really good father, and how those two things don’t add up at every moment of the film.
Frankie: I’m going to be honest. She definitely did give me tips. I just can’t remember.
What parts of your own lives did you bring to play in these two?
Frankie: My energy.
Paul: Frankie brought the energy, that I can testify to. We used to do this thing that would drive Frankie mad, but it would be myself and Charlotte trying to convince her to do a minute of silence. Closing your eyes and breathing. Which wasn’t Frankie’s favourite thing. Ultimately, a lot of what I had to do is imagining what it would be like to be a father. I probably brought a lot of my own parents to it subconsciously.
Were there any specific parts that reminded you of your relationships with your own parents?
Paul: Bits of the holiday are very reminiscent of holidays I’ve spent with my parents, when I was 10, 11, 12. The actual act of being on holiday and seeing people perform the Macarena and karaoke nights. It’s very easy to remember that. I think the film was excellent at establishing nostalgia or is deeply relatable to anybody who’s been next to or near those holidays.
How do you feel about your characters looking at them now?
Frankie: I really love Sophie, but at times she can be a wee bit cringey. The way she works stuff freaks me out. I think that’s also because I see “oh my god, that was me two years ago”.
Paul: I’m sorry to say Frankie, I think you’re a little bit cringey sometimes. I remember sitting beside you when you saw the film for the first time, when you watched the karaoke scene. It’s one of my favourite scenes in the whole film. You were jumping out of your seat.
Frankie: That was scary. That’s the cringiest scene in the whole film. When I was in London it was even worse than when I first watched it. I was crying – not crying, but…
Paul: You were definitely crying at the end of that screening.
Do you like Calum, Paul?
Paul: Yeah, I love both Calum and Sophie. I find it very hard to hear an argument as to why you wouldn’t care about those two people. That’s why I was so drawn to the script – straight off the bat you see an absolutely loving relationship actualised. It’s rare to see a single-parent drama where the centre point of the relationship is love. There’s moments of dysfunction, but it’s a highly functional relationship to me.
It’s rare on screen, but there’s films like Paper Moon and Leave No Trace. Even Clueless.
Paul: Leave No Trace (2018) is a great example. He’s obviously dealing with intense PTSD, but it’s rooted in really strong love for his daughter.
Did you watch any films in preparation, about father-daughter relationships or anything else?
Paul: I remember Somewhere (2010), the Sofia Coppola, and C’mon C’mon (2021). I find watching films useful in prep, but they don’t really inform how you can play the film. They are useful to watch but then become redundant once you’re on set.
Calum is depressed. What’s the best way to beat depression?
Paul: I think you can manage it, I don’t think you can beat it. Maybe that’s not right, that’s just my gut instinct. I’m very pro therapy, very pro talking to people about it. If you’re feeling depressed and you can take the leap in terms of just articulating it and talking about it to somebody, you’re halfway there. At least you’re starting the process. I think the danger – and what we see with Calum – is a bottling up and inability to express it beyond himself. We see how dangerous that can be.
We were talking a little bit earlier about the karaoke scene. Are you up for doing karaoke in real life?
Paul: Nope.
Frankie: I asked your sister what your favourite karaoke song is and she sent me a link to your Spotify.
Paul: Yeah, but that’s different to karaoke Frankie. Spotify is for private listening. I understand the impulse to sit down when people are standing up doing karaoke. It’s normally done in a situation where there’s alcohol on board. I’d rather just sit and chat with my friends, rather than scream songs at each other in a booth. It’s not the most appealing thing to me.
How about you, Frankie?
Frankie: I’ve got favourites for just me and favourites for me and my bestie, Charlotte. So my favourite is probably ‘deja vu’ by Olivia Rodrigo. My second favourite, I only just started liking three days ago: I was singing ‘Starships’ by Nicki Minaj with Charlotte and it was really fun. Not Charlotte the director, sorry guys.
Music is used evocatively throughout the film. What does music mean to you?
Frankie: Everything. Music is my everything. I listen in class.
Paul: Wait, you’re allowed to listen to music in school? Are you allowed to have your phone in school?
Frankie: Only when I’m allowed; most teachers don’t let me. In art, if you say you’ve got a headache, they let you listen to music. Don’t ask where I have learned that, guys.
Paul: My phone went off in class when I was 15, and it was some awful Eminem track. It was the most embarrassing moment of my entire life. That’s my only relation to being able to hear or listen to music in school. I feel like a general answer is, “I love music,” but it’s true. I use it a lot with character work. I’ll normally make a playlist for them.
Aftersun, backed by the BFI Film Fund with National Lottery money, is in cinemas from 18 November 2022.
