Paul Mescal has steadily risen through the ranks to become one of the industry's most acclaimed and in-demand actors for his work on acclaimed series like Hulu's "Normal People," high-profile theater gigs like his Olivier-winning turn as Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire", and lead roles in big blockbuster films like "Gladiator 2."
And while the 29-year-old Irishman has plenty of upcoming projects padding out his CV — including Richard Linklater's take on "Merrily We Roll Along," playing William Shakespeare in Chloé Zhao's "Hamnet" and doing his best Paul McCartney impersonation in Sam Mendes' upcoming Beatles biopic series — it's one of the actor's previous roles that we're excited to watch next.
The 2022 coming-of-age drama "Aftersun" features Mescal's most heartbreaking performance to date as a young father struggling with mental illness while trying to enjoy a vacation with his pre-teen daughter. Here's why you should add "Aftersun" to your next watchlist before the title leaves the Netflix library on Friday, March 21.
What is 'Aftersun' about?
Written and directed by Charlotte Wells — in what is, extraordinarily, her feature directorial debut, given the visual confidence and emotional intelligence of the film — "Aftersun" is loosely based on the filmmaker's own childhood experiences.
The late '90s-set memory film follows Scottish 11-year-old Sophie Patterson (a breakout Frankie Corio) during a one-on-one vacation at a Turkish resort with her 30-year-old father Calum (Mescal), who, though now separated from Sophie's mother, maintains a good relationship with both mom and daughter.
Despite the sun and fun of the setting — not to mention Sophie's sweetly awkward entry in adolescent rites of passage, like first kisses — Calum clearly struggles with deep depression and anxiety, an emotional anguish that he tries and fails to hide from his precocious daughter for the sake of their trip.
To heartrending effect, Wells toggles between the resort holiday and scenes of adult Sophie, twenty years later, reminiscing about the father she never fully knew.
Why should you watch 'Aftersun' on Netflix?
Though a relatively small movie — the A24 indie grossed a total of $8.59 million worldwide — "Aftersun" had a big impact on both audiences and critics alike.
The film has an impressive 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 244 reviews, with the site's critics' consensus reading: "Led by Frankie Corio's tremendous performance, 'Aftersun' deftly ushers audiences to the intersection between our memories of loved ones and who they really are."
And The New York Times critic A.O. Scott cited Wells' work as "astonishing and devastating", writing that the director was "very nearly reinventing the language of film, unlocking the medium's often dormant potential to disclose inner worlds of consciousness and feeling."
Mescal's stunning performance as Calum also got major love — the star received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for the film, as well as similar nods at the BAFTAs, Critics' Choice Awards, Independent Spirit Awards and the Irish Film & Television Awards.
► Watch "Aftersun" on Netflix now
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