This awards season saw some versatile actors receive nominations for best actor, including Brendan Fraser’s emotional portrayal of a six-hundred-pound man in Darren Aronofsky’sThe Whale, Colin Farrell in Martin McDonagh’s tragicomedyThe Banshees of Inisherin, and Austin Butler’s transformative work asElvis.
Paul Mescal is another best actor nominee for his quietly powerful turn as a loving father who is suffering from depression inAftersun. Paul may be a newcomer, but getting an Oscar nomination early in his career is a major accomplishment. His performance inAftersunis proof that the young star will have more dramatic roles heading toward his future.
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Who is Paul Mescal?
Paul Mescal is an Irish actor who is just getting started in his film career. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in acting at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland in 2017. After graduating, Paul took on plenty of theatrical roles in productions includingAngela’s Ashes,The Great Gatsby, andA Midsummer Night’s Dream. From 2022 through to this year, he also portrayed Stanley Kowalski in a revival of the playA Streetcar Named Desire(the role famously played by Marlon Brando in the classic 1951 film).
Paul starred in his first full-length feature in 2021 with a supporting turn in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut,The Lost Daughterstarring Oscar winner Olivia Colmanand Dakota Johnson. He has gone on to star in other psychological dramas, includingAftersun(which got him an Academy Award nomination for best actor),God’s Creatures,Carmen(a musical drama based on the classic opera of the same name), andNormal People(a limited series based on a romantic relationship between two people and their experiences in high school and college).
Due to his rise to fame as a dramatic actor, Paul has a number of projects lined up, includingFoe(a sci-fi thriller),Strangers(a British fantasy drama), andMerrily We Roll Along(a coming-of-age musical comedy from filmmaker Richard Linklater). Audiences will also be excited to see Paul play the lead inRidley Scott’s highly anticipated sequel toGladiator, the Oscar-winning swords and sandals epic.
What is Aftersun About?
Aftersunis a smallcoming-of-age filmfrom first-time Scottish director Charlotte Wells. It tells a simple story about a Scottish father named Calum (Paul Mescal) who takes his eleven-year-old daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) on a summer vacation to Turkey. Calum and Sophie eat together, swim in the pool, play games, and engage in other fun daily activities.
Thefather and daughter duolove each other very much and appear happy on the outside. However, deep down on the inside, Calum is depressed because he and Sophie’s mom are separated. Calum doesn’t necessarily discuss his personal issues about his wife in full detail, but there are quietly powerful moments in which his facial expressions show signs of sadness. He also mentions his disbelief at reaching the age of thirty and tells Sophie about the time his parents forgot about his eleventh birthday.
The Protagonists In Aftersun Each Have Personal Struggles
While Calum is internally emotional about his flawed childhood, his separation from his wife, and his financial struggles, he does everything he can to calm himself and heal his body (Calum is shown doing some exercises, and the camera reveals Tai Chi and meditation books next to his small TV box). Meanwhile, Sophie does her best to get through to her dad and make the most of their vacation together.
Sophie is also going through transitional phases of her own, such as trying to understandthe nature of sexualityand romance (which she sees glimpses of when teenagers at the Turkish hotel resort hang out together and engage in playful and intimate behavior). She even establishes a brief connection with a boy when they play arcade games together.
Calum and Sophie have a nice bond overall, but they do have brief disagreements, such as Calum’s refusal to sing during karaoke, or Sophie’s reluctance to dance with her dad, showing that they each have slightly different tastes for escapism and having fun, or feel uncomfortable when they’re outside their comfort zone.
Aftersun Uses Visualization To Represent Memories And Depression
The cinematography inAftersunis strikingly beautiful, displaying light, vibrant visuals of Turkey and the luxurious hotel resort. The scenes at night are equally rich, especially when Calum surrenders to the beach, along with the sound of loud waves. Calum and Sophie are also shown constantly using a video camera to record themselves during their vacation in Turkey (which symbolize memories that an older Sophie looks back on in order to remember her father and to try and understand why he was depressed).
The editing is also effective as some of the video camera footage is shown and shuffled at the beginning of the film and then played again in later scenes (like fragments or snapshots that come and go). There are also occasional imaginary sequences that show Calum and adult Sophie in a dark room with strobe lights, surrounded by strangers, representing the depressive state of mind of both protagonists. In a poignant scene, Calum and young Sophie are joyfully dancing at the resort, while in the dark strobe-lit room, older Sophie tries to grab hold of a sad Calum as he dances erratically, but they are separated, reflective of how Sophie could never fully reach her dad onan emotional level.
Aftersunis an elegantly devastating picture, reminding viewers of the fact that one can never fully understand another person, no matter how close they are to each other. However, as Sophie states, as long as she and her father are under the sun, they will never be apart, even though they aren’t physically together anymore.
