95
Metascore
46 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawWith remarkable confidence, [Wells] just lets her movie unspool naturally, like a haunting and deceptively simple short story. The details accumulate; the images reverberate; the unshowy gentleness of the central relationship inexorably deepens in importance.
- 100Time OutAnna BogutskayaTime OutAnna BogutskayaAftersun flows like a fondly remembered memory that’s been replayed endlessly, as if trying to find an important detail that might explain what happened. The easy pace of Wells’s direction brings out the best in her central performers, and the chemistry between Mescal and Corio plays out effortlessly. The light moments between them are warm and the darker ones linger heavily
- 100TheWrapCarlos AguilarTheWrapCarlos AguilarThat a director can summon such emotional maturity paired with grand narrative originality in her first outing, particularly working from a deeply personal standpoint, astounds. Wells, a forward-thinking artist, invites into a vortex of feelings and sensations that fully exploits the language of cinema for its gorgeously humanistic pursuit.
- 100CineVueJohn BleasdaleCineVueJohn BleasdaleWells’ debut is a frankly astonishing work which will leave a lasting impression.
- 91The Film StageRory O'ConnorThe Film StageRory O'ConnorAftersun is a beautiful film, albeit one with too many endings, brimming with inner life and creativity, and worthy of comparison to Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher and other debuts of that ilk.
- 90The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenCharlotte Wells’ sharp and tender Aftersun is the rare father-and-child drama that leaves you wondering who the dad will grow up to be.
- 90VarietyGuy LodgeVarietyGuy LodgeAftersun thus works elegantly as a kind of dual coming-of-age study, perfectly served by Mescal’s signature brand of softboi gentleness — here shown maturing and creasing into more hardened, troubled masculinity — and the vitality of Corio, whose deft, lovely performance braids both authentic exuberance and a girlishness that feels more performed, as if for the benefit of her dad.
- 80Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganScreen DailyFionnuala HalliganWhile attention, fairly, will go to the work’s visual and tonal acuity, Wells’ measured but relentless probing, her careful peeling away of the layers of this intimate piece, mark her out as one of the most promising new voices in British cinema in recent years.
- 58The PlaylistElena LazicThe PlaylistElena LazicBold acrobatics in editing and ambitious creative choices feel all the more superfluous next to Mescal’s effortless charisma.