Director: Charlotte Wells
Starring: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio
Country of Origin: UK, USA
Beneath the surface of an outwardly loving father-daughter relationship unsettling signs emerge.
A package holiday in Turkey gives inquisitive eleven-year old Sophie (Frankie Corio) precious time with her father Calum (Paul Mescal) just before he turns 31.
Only in fleeting windows do the cracks become visible, although it’s clear Calum cherishes his only child.
A cinéma vérité style mixes silly home videos of the trip at a limited, sun drenched resort with clearer images which depict a sensitive, devoted dad and a curious daughter eager to experiment.
Sophie lives in Edinburgh, and judging from her Hearts shirt and the background music, it’s set at some point in the late 1990s.
Calum moved to London after separating with Sophie’s mother but seems to be on good terms with her.
Games of pool, where Calum is mistaken for Sophie’s brother by English teenagers, dips in the water and meals together show their closeness.
Not everything is seen and heard, yet Calum makes a perturbing admission that he was surprised to make 30 and doubts he will reach 40 to an unsuspecting scuba dive instructor.
He conceals a smoking habit from his daughter, has money worries and is visibly upset when Sophie talks about feeling down after an activity-filled day.
The doting dad refuses to join his daughter to sing karaoke in front of other resort guests on stage, they have a minor argument and he heads into the sea for refuge.
He returns and bawls uncontrollably in their hotel bedroom. Sophie opts to hang out with the older adolescents – who allow her to join them on account of her pool prowess – and closely watches their risqué behaviour while also finding a little romance of her own.
In between, a seemingly grown up Sophie is shown struggling to find her father who dances at a strobe light permeated rave in confusing, disturbing interludes.
Although it begins with a crawl, as the camera lingers in the early scenes, the end result is poignant, ambiguous and chilling.
Wrapped up in wistful memories and exploring themes of identity and the stresses of single parenthood, the debut of Scottish director Charlotte Wells is a startling accomplishment.
Wells delicately lulls us into believing the calm, humdrum events of an unremarkable trip strengthen Sophie and Calum’s connection, only to provide shocking snippets that suggest otherwise.
Are Sophie’s recollections embellished or even accurate? When emotion fills in the blanks of our memory it’s natural to rose-tint things, especially as time whizzes by.
There’s quite a substantial gap left open for interpretation, even accounting for a haunting, wonderfully shot final scene.
Like the fuzzy, polaroid picture yet to develop as the pair enjoy dessert, all that’s left is a vague uncertainty.
There is such a natural feel to the performances of Mescal and Corio that everything is entirely believable.
You wouldn’t know it was Corio’s first big screen appearance and based on her effortless, glittering portrayal of a girl growing up fast, it surely won’t be her last.
Balancing external confidence and deep vulnerability Mescal is magnificent.
His portrait of a father barely keeping it all together is both arresting and affecting in an exceptionally constructed film.
Stephen Kasiewicz 