As portrayed by Donald Sutherland in the original “Hunger Games” film trilogy 10 years ago, President Coriolanus Snow is about as fearsomely wretched as villains come — a heartless, dystopian dictator who stops at nothing to keep the haves empowered above the have-nots.
As portrayed by 28-year-old British actor Tom Blyth in director Francis Lawrence’s new prequel feature, “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” Snow is a Capitol teen forced to reluctantly exist in a world where violence is a means of survival — full of heart but little grit, measured book smarts but sheltered naivety.
It’s after meeting a tribute at the 10th Hunger Games, a singer from the lower districts named Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), that the young Coriolanus must decide whether to push back on the pillars of fatal inequities that keep the world he knows intact, or to embrace them for the dangling...
As portrayed by 28-year-old British actor Tom Blyth in director Francis Lawrence’s new prequel feature, “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” Snow is a Capitol teen forced to reluctantly exist in a world where violence is a means of survival — full of heart but little grit, measured book smarts but sheltered naivety.
It’s after meeting a tribute at the 10th Hunger Games, a singer from the lower districts named Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), that the young Coriolanus must decide whether to push back on the pillars of fatal inequities that keep the world he knows intact, or to embrace them for the dangling...
- 11/17/2023
- by Benjamin Lindsay
- The Wrap
This article contains major The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes spoilers.
What ever happened to Lucy Gray?
It is a question that haunted Coriolanus Snow at the end of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and which is likely to haunt him still when, as an old man with absolute power, he sees Katniss wear a dress that catches fire. We suspect some audiences will wonder too about the fate of Lucy Gray Baird, who is ambiguously played by Rachel Zegler. Of course that is the point.
As Peter Dinklage’s self-loathing Dean Casca Highbottom taunts young Corio (an also eerily haunting Tom Blyth), it is the mysteries we cannot solve which drive us mad. For Casca, that mystery is revealed to be finding a way to make the Hunger Games end. He invented the concept of the Games as a cruel drape—a drunken answer to...
What ever happened to Lucy Gray?
It is a question that haunted Coriolanus Snow at the end of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and which is likely to haunt him still when, as an old man with absolute power, he sees Katniss wear a dress that catches fire. We suspect some audiences will wonder too about the fate of Lucy Gray Baird, who is ambiguously played by Rachel Zegler. Of course that is the point.
As Peter Dinklage’s self-loathing Dean Casca Highbottom taunts young Corio (an also eerily haunting Tom Blyth), it is the mysteries we cannot solve which drive us mad. For Casca, that mystery is revealed to be finding a way to make the Hunger Games end. He invented the concept of the Games as a cruel drape—a drunken answer to...
- 11/17/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow and Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird in ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ (Photo Credit: Murray Close)
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes substitutes a songstress for a huntress and the morally compromised, bankrupt scion of a once powerful Capital family for the heroic endeavors of The Hunger Games’ Peeta and Gale. A prequel set decades before Katniss entered the arena, Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is, at its core, an examination of why the Hunger Games exists.
What is the purpose of this gruesome spectacle? Can this annual butchering of children be justified as an effective method of keeping District rebels in check? Is there any moral justification for something as barbaric as pitting innocent children against each other in a fight to the death?
Those questions are woven into the film (just as they are in Suzanne...
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes substitutes a songstress for a huntress and the morally compromised, bankrupt scion of a once powerful Capital family for the heroic endeavors of The Hunger Games’ Peeta and Gale. A prequel set decades before Katniss entered the arena, Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is, at its core, an examination of why the Hunger Games exists.
What is the purpose of this gruesome spectacle? Can this annual butchering of children be justified as an effective method of keeping District rebels in check? Is there any moral justification for something as barbaric as pitting innocent children against each other in a fight to the death?
Those questions are woven into the film (just as they are in Suzanne...
- 11/16/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
There is something to be said about the cycle of sci-fi films made in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. While the decades to come would be defined by Star Wars pew-pews, for a little while there, the genre was fixated almost wholly on grim cynicism, downbeat endings, and unadulterated dystopia. I’m a sucker for all that jazz, even when it’s at its silliest. That would be your “Soylent Green is people!” films or the sequels to Chuck Heston crying, “Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!” This could also explain why I sat with a smile for nearly all 157 minutes of Francis Lawrence’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. It’s grandiose, kooky, and sometimes cruel. But despite being adapted from a YA book, this gray universe imagined by Suzanne Collins still feels refreshingly adult in our own modern multiplex land of bread and circuses.
- 11/15/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Paul Mescal is making sure Frankie Corio is having the best 13th birthday.
The actor managed to get Olivia Rodrigo to record a special message for the “Aftersun” star’s special day.
Her mother, Leona Corio, captured the special moment in a video she shared to Twitter.
“Paul surprised Frankie with a video from @oliviarodrigo for her birthday when they were filming Aftersun in Turkey! ,” she wrote.
Read More: Paul Mescal Got Introduced To Nicole Kidman In His ‘Sweaty Underwear’
Paul surprised Frankie with a video from @oliviarodrigo for her birthday when they were filming Aftersun in Turkey! pic.twitter.com/gLX34oNp6C
— Leona Corio (@leonacsinger) March 9, 2023
“I’ve got a surprise for you,” Mescal teases before showing the birthday girl the special message on his phone.
“Hey Frankie, it’s Olivia,” Rodrigo can be heard saying as Corio and her siblings watch with huge smiles on their faces.
The actor managed to get Olivia Rodrigo to record a special message for the “Aftersun” star’s special day.
Her mother, Leona Corio, captured the special moment in a video she shared to Twitter.
“Paul surprised Frankie with a video from @oliviarodrigo for her birthday when they were filming Aftersun in Turkey! ,” she wrote.
Read More: Paul Mescal Got Introduced To Nicole Kidman In His ‘Sweaty Underwear’
Paul surprised Frankie with a video from @oliviarodrigo for her birthday when they were filming Aftersun in Turkey! pic.twitter.com/gLX34oNp6C
— Leona Corio (@leonacsinger) March 9, 2023
“I’ve got a surprise for you,” Mescal teases before showing the birthday girl the special message on his phone.
“Hey Frankie, it’s Olivia,” Rodrigo can be heard saying as Corio and her siblings watch with huge smiles on their faces.
- 3/12/2023
- by Anita Tai
- ET Canada
Paul Mescal surprised his Aftersun co-star Frankie Corio with a personalised message from Olivia Rodrigo.
The actors star together in Charlotte Wells’s coming-of-age drama about a father and daughter on holiday at a Turkish resort.
While filming in May 2021, Mescal arranged for the “good 4 u” singer to wish Corio a happy birthday in a pre-recorded video.
In a short clip shared by Leona Corio, Frankie’s mother, on Thursday (9 March), Mescal is seen holding his phone to his co-star as she watches the message.
“Hi Frankie, it’s Olivia, I heard it’s your birthday,” Rodrigo says, before wishing her the “best day ever”.
“I hope you eat lots of cake and open lots of presents, and I hope I get to meet you real soon,” Rodrigo told Corio, then aged 10 or 11.
“Hope this one's the best year yet.”
After Rodrigo’s video ends, Corio is seen beaming and rendered speechless with surprise.
The actors star together in Charlotte Wells’s coming-of-age drama about a father and daughter on holiday at a Turkish resort.
While filming in May 2021, Mescal arranged for the “good 4 u” singer to wish Corio a happy birthday in a pre-recorded video.
In a short clip shared by Leona Corio, Frankie’s mother, on Thursday (9 March), Mescal is seen holding his phone to his co-star as she watches the message.
“Hi Frankie, it’s Olivia, I heard it’s your birthday,” Rodrigo says, before wishing her the “best day ever”.
“I hope you eat lots of cake and open lots of presents, and I hope I get to meet you real soon,” Rodrigo told Corio, then aged 10 or 11.
“Hope this one's the best year yet.”
After Rodrigo’s video ends, Corio is seen beaming and rendered speechless with surprise.
- 3/9/2023
- by Nicole Vassell
- The Independent - Film
Paul Mescal’s Oscar-nominated turn in “Aftersun” helped him land bigger roles in films like Ridley Scott’s upcoming “Gladiator” sequel, but indie film fans don’t have to worry about losing him any time soon.
Speaking to IndieWire on the Independent Spirit Awards blue carpet, Mescal reiterated his commitment to continuing to star in films like “Aftersun” and reciprocating the support that the independent film community showed him.
“Indie cinema is where I want to live and be. So to be in the middle of that is something that I take great pride in. I love this film, I love Charlotte [Wells], I love Frankie [Corio], so it’s an easy and happy place for me to be right now.” Mescal said, before pointing out that the film’s many award nominations are a result of people still caring about smaller films. “It’s a really cool bi-product of making...
Speaking to IndieWire on the Independent Spirit Awards blue carpet, Mescal reiterated his commitment to continuing to star in films like “Aftersun” and reciprocating the support that the independent film community showed him.
“Indie cinema is where I want to live and be. So to be in the middle of that is something that I take great pride in. I love this film, I love Charlotte [Wells], I love Frankie [Corio], so it’s an easy and happy place for me to be right now.” Mescal said, before pointing out that the film’s many award nominations are a result of people still caring about smaller films. “It’s a really cool bi-product of making...
- 3/5/2023
- by Christian Zilko and Vincent Perella
- Indiewire
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” swept the SAG Awards in historic fashion, winning all four of its categories. That included the supporting actress prize for Jamie Lee Curtis, but she was up against one of her co-stars, Stephanie Hsu, the only nominated actor from the film who didn’t end up taking home an individual performance trophy. She’ll get her opportunity in the spotlight, though, at the upcoming Independent Spirit Awards on March 4, where she’s the front-runner to win Best Breakthrough Performance.
SEEOscar parallels between 1983 and 2023: Steven Spielberg, John Williams …
As of this writing Hsu gets leading odds of 59/20 based on the combined predictions of thousands of Gold Derby users who have placed their bets here in our predictions center. Among those predicting her are nine out of the 11 Expert journalists we’ve surveyed thus far, all Gold Derby Editors, and most of the Top 24 Users...
SEEOscar parallels between 1983 and 2023: Steven Spielberg, John Williams …
As of this writing Hsu gets leading odds of 59/20 based on the combined predictions of thousands of Gold Derby users who have placed their bets here in our predictions center. Among those predicting her are nine out of the 11 Expert journalists we’ve surveyed thus far, all Gold Derby Editors, and most of the Top 24 Users...
- 3/2/2023
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
When the 2023 Oscar nominations were announced in January, there was one nod that took some people by surprise: Paul Mescal in the shortlist for best actor. The Irish star has received the recognition for his incredible work in "Aftersun," released by A24 in 2022. He's the only nomination for the film, in which Mescal stars as a former teen dad who's struggling to connect with his preteen daughter and himself, told through the eyes of that daughter (played by Frankie Corio as a child and Celia Rowlson-Hall). It's based on the experiences of the film's writer and director Charlotte Wells, who made her directorial debut with the film.
While his nod is undoubtedly deserved, Mescal is remaining humble and told the Evening Standard, "Look, I'm not going to win." But he is preparing a speech just in case! "It's kind of low-stakes pressure, I can basically just sit back and enjoy it,...
While his nod is undoubtedly deserved, Mescal is remaining humble and told the Evening Standard, "Look, I'm not going to win." But he is preparing a speech just in case! "It's kind of low-stakes pressure, I can basically just sit back and enjoy it,...
- 2/24/2023
- by Victoria Edel
- Popsugar.com
Best Actor Oscar nominee Paul Mescal recently chatted with Gold Derby’s Christopher Rosen about his role in the A24 film “Aftersun,” in which he plays Calum, a vacationing father who tries to hide his depression from his young daughter Sophie (played by Frankie Corio). Mescal candidly discusses working with director Charlotte Wells and how he’s “grateful” she encouraged so much “creative freedom” on set. Wells recently won the DGA Award for Best First-Time Director.
Whenever he was filming scenes with Corio, there was a special “rhythm” on set, Mescal tells us. “I wasn’t expecting to go to Turkey and become friends with an 11-year-old,” the Irish actor laughs about his on-screen daughter. “I think the reason that the chemistry translates is because it exists.” In addition to his Oscar bid, Mescal also earned notices at the BAFTA Awards and Gold Derby Awards.
Watch the full video above...
Whenever he was filming scenes with Corio, there was a special “rhythm” on set, Mescal tells us. “I wasn’t expecting to go to Turkey and become friends with an 11-year-old,” the Irish actor laughs about his on-screen daughter. “I think the reason that the chemistry translates is because it exists.” In addition to his Oscar bid, Mescal also earned notices at the BAFTA Awards and Gold Derby Awards.
Watch the full video above...
- 2/22/2023
- by Latasha Ford and Marcus James Dixon
- Gold Derby
Todd Field’s Tár claimed the top prize at the 43rd London Critics’ Circle Film Awards on Sunday night, where it was named film of the year. Meanwhile, Cate Blanchett won actress of the year — the third time she has done so — and Field landed director of the year.
Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin was another big winner in London, winning five prizes, including the Attenborough award for British/Irish film of the year, screenwriter of the year, actor of the year for Colin Farrell, and both supporting actor and supporting actress for Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon. Another Irish title, The Quiet Girl, won foreign-language film of the year in a tie win alongside Park Chan-wook’s noir thriller Decision to Leave. Laura Poitras’ pointed Nan Goldin film All the Beauty and the Bloodshed was named documentary of the year.
The ceremony was capped with the presentation...
Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin was another big winner in London, winning five prizes, including the Attenborough award for British/Irish film of the year, screenwriter of the year, actor of the year for Colin Farrell, and both supporting actor and supporting actress for Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon. Another Irish title, The Quiet Girl, won foreign-language film of the year in a tie win alongside Park Chan-wook’s noir thriller Decision to Leave. Laura Poitras’ pointed Nan Goldin film All the Beauty and the Bloodshed was named documentary of the year.
The ceremony was capped with the presentation...
- 2/5/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The 43rd annual London Critics’ Circle Film Awards was a well-attended affair that crowned the provocative culture war drama “Tár” as the Film of the Year on Sunday.
“Tár” won three major awards, with Todd Field named Director of the Year and Cate Blanchett Actress of the Year. Blanchett is no stranger to this award, having won it previously in 1998 for “Elizabeth” and in 2013 for “Blue Jasmine”.
“‘Tár’ is about female experience, but it’s also beyond female experience. It’s really, really complicated and you’ve made room for that complication,” Blanchett said during her acceptance speech. “Personally, it was the most freewheeling, free form, free flowing, exhilarating, challenging and creatively dangerous film set that I’ve ever been on. And it was full of ambiguity and the stuff that we as a species, find so hard to unpack and discuss and and pin down, not only the stuff...
“Tár” won three major awards, with Todd Field named Director of the Year and Cate Blanchett Actress of the Year. Blanchett is no stranger to this award, having won it previously in 1998 for “Elizabeth” and in 2013 for “Blue Jasmine”.
“‘Tár’ is about female experience, but it’s also beyond female experience. It’s really, really complicated and you’ve made room for that complication,” Blanchett said during her acceptance speech. “Personally, it was the most freewheeling, free form, free flowing, exhilarating, challenging and creatively dangerous film set that I’ve ever been on. And it was full of ambiguity and the stuff that we as a species, find so hard to unpack and discuss and and pin down, not only the stuff...
- 2/5/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Months into the release of “Aftersun,” Paul Mescal is still pleasantly surprised when someone approaches him about it.
“It’s one of those things [where] it’s so small and so intimate that you’re like, ‘God, I hope that resonates,’” the actor recalled in an interview with TheWrap. “And the last couple of months have just been a testament to the fact that it has.”
So have Tuesday’s Oscar nominations, where the 26-year-old earned a nod for Best Actor. Written and directed by Charlotte Wells, “Aftersun” chronicles a summer vacation taken by Calum (Mescal), a young father deeply at odds with himself, and his 11-year-old daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio). Told from Sophie’s perspective at different ages, the film lives at the crossroads between memory and hindsight.
While Calum wears fatherhood like a protective armor, Mescal slips into the role like a second skin. Playing a parent may have...
“It’s one of those things [where] it’s so small and so intimate that you’re like, ‘God, I hope that resonates,’” the actor recalled in an interview with TheWrap. “And the last couple of months have just been a testament to the fact that it has.”
So have Tuesday’s Oscar nominations, where the 26-year-old earned a nod for Best Actor. Written and directed by Charlotte Wells, “Aftersun” chronicles a summer vacation taken by Calum (Mescal), a young father deeply at odds with himself, and his 11-year-old daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio). Told from Sophie’s perspective at different ages, the film lives at the crossroads between memory and hindsight.
While Calum wears fatherhood like a protective armor, Mescal slips into the role like a second skin. Playing a parent may have...
- 1/25/2023
- by Harper Lambert
- The Wrap
Paul Mescal’s parents have reacted to their son’s Oscar nomination.
Mescal was nominated for Best Actor on Tuesday (24 January) for his role in Charlotte Wells’s directorial debut, Aftersun, making him one of the category’s youngest-ever nominees at 26.
The actor’s mother Dearbhla told Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ that it was “too stressful” to watch the Oscar nominations live, so she found out the news on the family WhatsApp group.
“We’re very blessed, Donnacha [Mescal’s brother] was in New York, sitting in his office, Nelly [Mescal’s sister] was in London, she went straight to his flat.
“It’s an honour to watch him in this arena, I’m emotional a lot today.”
She added: “The fact that I got to see their three faces today, the love they have for each other as siblings is second to none, I’m very happy.”...
Mescal was nominated for Best Actor on Tuesday (24 January) for his role in Charlotte Wells’s directorial debut, Aftersun, making him one of the category’s youngest-ever nominees at 26.
The actor’s mother Dearbhla told Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ that it was “too stressful” to watch the Oscar nominations live, so she found out the news on the family WhatsApp group.
“We’re very blessed, Donnacha [Mescal’s brother] was in New York, sitting in his office, Nelly [Mescal’s sister] was in London, she went straight to his flat.
“It’s an honour to watch him in this arena, I’m emotional a lot today.”
She added: “The fact that I got to see their three faces today, the love they have for each other as siblings is second to none, I’m very happy.”...
- 1/25/2023
- by Tom Murray
- The Independent - Film
Paul Mescal is in shock after receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
On Tuesday (23 January), the latest round of Academy Award nominations were announced in Hollywood.
While expectations for Mescal’s Aftersun nomination had gained traction in recent weeks, it was still uncertain whether he would be named – however, the doubters were proved wrong.
Mescal was nominated alongside fellow first-time nominees Austin Butler (Elvis), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Brendan Fraser (The Whale) and Bill Nighy (Living).
The actor’s nomination is especially impressive considering Aftersun was his first lead film role after his breakout appearance in the Sally Rooney adaptation Normal People, which was released in 2020.
Reacting to the news, Mescal said in a statement: “This is truly a special moment for everyone involved in Aftersun. To be recognised by the Academy is such an insane honour and I’m so utterly grateful. I want to dedicate...
On Tuesday (23 January), the latest round of Academy Award nominations were announced in Hollywood.
While expectations for Mescal’s Aftersun nomination had gained traction in recent weeks, it was still uncertain whether he would be named – however, the doubters were proved wrong.
Mescal was nominated alongside fellow first-time nominees Austin Butler (Elvis), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Brendan Fraser (The Whale) and Bill Nighy (Living).
The actor’s nomination is especially impressive considering Aftersun was his first lead film role after his breakout appearance in the Sally Rooney adaptation Normal People, which was released in 2020.
Reacting to the news, Mescal said in a statement: “This is truly a special moment for everyone involved in Aftersun. To be recognised by the Academy is such an insane honour and I’m so utterly grateful. I want to dedicate...
- 1/24/2023
- by Jacob Stolworthy
- The Independent - Film
In Charlotte Wells’ debut feature “Aftersun,” child actor Frankie Corio gives one of the best performances of the year as Sophie, a smart 11 year-old vacationing in Turkey with her loving father Calum (Paul Mescal) in the late 1990s. On the red carpet of the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday, the young star spoke about her fandom for another period piece in Netflix’s smash-hit science fiction series “Stranger Things.”
Corio spoke about “Stranger Things” to IndieWire Social Media Editor Veronica Flores on Sunday, and revealed the person she was most excited to meet during the ceremony was “Stranger Things” star Sadie Sink, who was nominated alongside Corio in the Best Young Actor category for her performance in the A24 film “The Whale” (the prize ultimately went to Gabriel Labelle for his role in “The Fabelmans”). Saying she was a big fan of “Stranger Things,” Corio also said she would love...
Corio spoke about “Stranger Things” to IndieWire Social Media Editor Veronica Flores on Sunday, and revealed the person she was most excited to meet during the ceremony was “Stranger Things” star Sadie Sink, who was nominated alongside Corio in the Best Young Actor category for her performance in the A24 film “The Whale” (the prize ultimately went to Gabriel Labelle for his role in “The Fabelmans”). Saying she was a big fan of “Stranger Things,” Corio also said she would love...
- 1/16/2023
- by Wilson Chapman and Veronica Flores
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Rising-star Frankie Corio has signed with WME for representation. Corio is coming off her star-making performance in A24’s Aftersun opposite Paul Mescal. The role has earned critical acclaim as well as several accolades including a Critics Choice Award for Best Young Actress as well as an honor from the London Film Critics Circle for Best Young Performer.
The film has also received eight BAFTA nominations as well as British Independent Film Award for Best British Independent Film.
Next up, she has the Lionsgate pic Bagman, which bows this summer and also starred Sam Claflin. She is also repped by the Artists Partnership.
The film has also received eight BAFTA nominations as well as British Independent Film Award for Best British Independent Film.
Next up, she has the Lionsgate pic Bagman, which bows this summer and also starred Sam Claflin. She is also repped by the Artists Partnership.
- 1/13/2023
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
Paul Mescal enters the north London cafe having trudged a short distance through the snow from his gym. Heads turn, but Mescal is oblivious. He shakes himself out of a hooded coat then nonchalantly removes a sweater to reveal a ribbed torso sheathed in a white T-shirt. More stares. The star of Aftersun, Scottish director Charlotte Wells’s tender visual poem about a father and daughter, takes a seat and rubs his tummy. In that moment it’s all too easy to compare him to Marlon Brando, with the tight-ish whitey shirt and all that.
As it happens, the Irish-born actor is playing one of Brando’s signature roles: the brutish but passionate Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams’ landmark play A Streetcar Named Desire, at the Almeida Theatre, a five-minute walk away from where we’re breakfasting. The revival has been on Mescal’s slate for three years, delayed by Covid and scheduling issues.
As it happens, the Irish-born actor is playing one of Brando’s signature roles: the brutish but passionate Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams’ landmark play A Streetcar Named Desire, at the Almeida Theatre, a five-minute walk away from where we’re breakfasting. The revival has been on Mescal’s slate for three years, delayed by Covid and scheduling issues.
- 1/11/2023
- by Baz Bamigboye
- Deadline Film + TV
Charlotte Wells's Aftersun is now showing exclusively on Mubi starting January 6, 2023, in many countries—including the United Kingdom, Mexico, and India—in the series Debuts. Wells recently joined the Mubi Podcast for a special episode on Aftersun's soundtrack; click here to listen.It’s a slippery thing, memory. Faded by the years or sharpened by trauma, the things we remember have a tendency to wax and wane tantalizingly in and out of focus. Reaching out into the gulf of her memories in Charlotte Wells’s debut feature Aftersun is Sophie, a protagonist split across two eras. There’s the late 1990s of her childhood, in particular one summer holiday spent with her father Calum (Paul Mescal), and the present day, where home movies and ephemera from the trip offer something akin to that longed-for hold on the past.Aftersun lingers on the holiday itself, the lazy days passing...
- 1/6/2023
- MUBI
2022 at the box office was ... rocky. You of course had your Marvel movie successes, not-so-surprising horror hits, and the world-dominating force that was "Top Gun: Maverick," but if you were not squarely within the genre film landscape, it was a struggle to get a ton of butts in seats. Some were able to prevail, such as the Julia Roberts and George Clooney-led romantic comedy "Ticket to Paradise" or Channing Tatum's directorial debut "Dog," but the pickings were slim if you weren't delivering scares, action, or multiverses.
Some equate how well a film performs at the box office with its quality. If nobody went to go see it, it must not be very good, right? Obviously, that couldn't be further from the truth. Why these movies don't get the audience they should comes down to an innumerable amount of factors: marketing, the pandemic, competing with streaming, price, etc. I...
Some equate how well a film performs at the box office with its quality. If nobody went to go see it, it must not be very good, right? Obviously, that couldn't be further from the truth. Why these movies don't get the audience they should comes down to an innumerable amount of factors: marketing, the pandemic, competing with streaming, price, etc. I...
- 12/22/2022
- by Mike Shutt
- Slash Film
Who
Frankie Corio
Age: 12
Hometown: Livingston, Scotland
What
In her debut role in Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, Frankie Corio is Sophie, the pre-teen daughter to Paul Mescal’s Calum. On a Turkish vacation, the emotional ebb and flow of their relationship takes center-stage. As a young, single father, Calum is wracked by a kind of existential pain that includes the loss of his own dreams. Bogged down by his personal demons and unresolved traumas, he is at turns both a loving and distant father. While Sophie struggles to understand her father’s fluctuating moods, her love emerges through the lens of the camera she constantly trains on him.
In the absence of a full script from Wells, the decision to play Sophie as someone who was equal parts self-assured and playfully mischievous was Corio’s idea. “I don’t think she told me much about the character because she wanted me...
Frankie Corio
Age: 12
Hometown: Livingston, Scotland
What
In her debut role in Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, Frankie Corio is Sophie, the pre-teen daughter to Paul Mescal’s Calum. On a Turkish vacation, the emotional ebb and flow of their relationship takes center-stage. As a young, single father, Calum is wracked by a kind of existential pain that includes the loss of his own dreams. Bogged down by his personal demons and unresolved traumas, he is at turns both a loving and distant father. While Sophie struggles to understand her father’s fluctuating moods, her love emerges through the lens of the camera she constantly trains on him.
In the absence of a full script from Wells, the decision to play Sophie as someone who was equal parts self-assured and playfully mischievous was Corio’s idea. “I don’t think she told me much about the character because she wanted me...
- 12/10/2022
- by Destiny Jackson
- Deadline Film + TV
James Gray’s ‘Armageddon Time’, Greg Mottola’s ‘Confess, Fletch’ also start.
Disney comedy-horror The Menu and Mubi awards favourite Aftersun are among the new titles at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend.
Opening in 610 sites for Disney, Mark Mylod’s The Menu sees a young couple travel to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant, where the chef has prepared a lavish menu and some shocking surprises.
The film debuted as a special presentation at Toronto Film Festival in September, going on to play festivals worldwide including Zurich, Rio de Janeiro, Busan and Tokyo.
British director Mylod...
Disney comedy-horror The Menu and Mubi awards favourite Aftersun are among the new titles at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend.
Opening in 610 sites for Disney, Mark Mylod’s The Menu sees a young couple travel to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant, where the chef has prepared a lavish menu and some shocking surprises.
The film debuted as a special presentation at Toronto Film Festival in September, going on to play festivals worldwide including Zurich, Rio de Janeiro, Busan and Tokyo.
British director Mylod...
- 11/18/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
It’s difficult to think of the moments before a heartbreak and not lace them with omens. The mind, too often, moulds memories into prophecies. Colours get dialled up. Emotions solidify. It’s a hard thing to talk about, let alone visualise. That’s why Aftersun, the debut of Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells, is so astounding. She’s captured the uncapturable, finding the words and images to describe a feeling that always seems to sit just beyond our comprehension.
The only way to understand memory, in any meaningful way, is perhaps on personal terms. And here, Wells has siphoned some element of autobiography into a story of her own precise crafting. Eleven-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) is on holiday with her dad, Calum (Paul Mescal), at a point in the Nineties when the Macarena was at its cultural apex. It’s made clear that Calum isn’t with Sophie’s mother any more.
The only way to understand memory, in any meaningful way, is perhaps on personal terms. And here, Wells has siphoned some element of autobiography into a story of her own precise crafting. Eleven-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) is on holiday with her dad, Calum (Paul Mescal), at a point in the Nineties when the Macarena was at its cultural apex. It’s made clear that Calum isn’t with Sophie’s mother any more.
- 11/17/2022
- by Clarisse Loughrey
- The Independent - Film
Aftersun is without one of the best films of the year, and one of the most strikingly assured debuts in quite some time, from Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells. To mark the film’s release, following a triumphant run on the festival circuit, we had the immense pleasure in speaking to the talent from both in front of and behind the lens, as we chat to leading stars Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio, as well as Wells herself.
With Mescal and Corio we discuss the bond they share, as they tell us whether they’ve been able to stay in touch since the shoot ended. Mescal also talks about working with Wells, and Corio delves into this unique experience that starring in a movie has given her. When chatting to Wells we talk about the personal nature of the tale, and on the casting of the aforementioned, wonderful duo + the strength...
With Mescal and Corio we discuss the bond they share, as they tell us whether they’ve been able to stay in touch since the shoot ended. Mescal also talks about working with Wells, and Corio delves into this unique experience that starring in a movie has given her. When chatting to Wells we talk about the personal nature of the tale, and on the casting of the aforementioned, wonderful duo + the strength...
- 11/16/2022
- by Stefan Pape
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
On the surface, very little happens in Aftersun. Most of its scenes consist of a father and his 11-year-old daughter lounging by the pool, enjoying meals and engaging in various tourist activities. Despite some moments of mild tension, the two seem to have a positive and typical father-daughter relationship. There are no giant fights, no overly harsh words, no hints of abuse or trauma.
But underneath the sunny façade, the film packs a quietly devastating punch. While it might be too deliberate and subtle for casual viewers, those who devote their attention will be rewarded with a deeply emotional experience. With her feature debut, writer/director Charlotte Wells proves that she’s a filmmaker to watch.
Aftersun observes young Sophie (Frankie Corio) and her father, Calum (Paul Mescal), as they vacation at a Turkish resort. Calum and Sophie’s mother have recently divorced, and Sophie is at the age where...
But underneath the sunny façade, the film packs a quietly devastating punch. While it might be too deliberate and subtle for casual viewers, those who devote their attention will be rewarded with a deeply emotional experience. With her feature debut, writer/director Charlotte Wells proves that she’s a filmmaker to watch.
Aftersun observes young Sophie (Frankie Corio) and her father, Calum (Paul Mescal), as they vacation at a Turkish resort. Calum and Sophie’s mother have recently divorced, and Sophie is at the age where...
- 11/13/2022
- by Chris Williams
- CinemaNerdz
This review originally ran May 21, 2022, for the film’s world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
Early on during the vacation that Calum and his daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) take to a Turkish beach resort in “Aftersun” — the heart-achingly stirring and sensorially entrancing debut feature from writer-director Charlotte Wells, set in the 1990s — a brief encounter exposes the film’s profoundly relatable thesis.
As father and child ready themselves for a game of pool, two teenage boys approach them under the impression that the pair are siblings. Once they learn he’s not a brother but a parent, their demeanor changes. Calum immediately becomes a figure of authority. They watch their language around him and treat him with an air of respect.
In their defense, Mescal’s boyish features and playful aura would deceive most, but their reaction exemplifies our collective inability to see those who raise us as individuals...
Early on during the vacation that Calum and his daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) take to a Turkish beach resort in “Aftersun” — the heart-achingly stirring and sensorially entrancing debut feature from writer-director Charlotte Wells, set in the 1990s — a brief encounter exposes the film’s profoundly relatable thesis.
As father and child ready themselves for a game of pool, two teenage boys approach them under the impression that the pair are siblings. Once they learn he’s not a brother but a parent, their demeanor changes. Calum immediately becomes a figure of authority. They watch their language around him and treat him with an air of respect.
In their defense, Mescal’s boyish features and playful aura would deceive most, but their reaction exemplifies our collective inability to see those who raise us as individuals...
- 10/20/2022
- by Carlos Aguilar
- The Wrap
A memory, even a very happy one, can be tinged with sadness after the fact — especially when viewed in a new light. This is the underlying spirit of "Aftersun," the debut feature film from Scottish writer-director Charlotte Wells. The project is clearly a very personal one; the film drifts along at a dreamy, quiet pace, slowly unraveling its story about an unforgettable vacation, framed like a collection of memories held together by home movies, photographs, and souvenirs.
The bulk of Wells' film focuses on young father Calum (Paul Mescal) and his 11-year-old daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio). Calum and Sophie's mother have long since broken up; he isn't in his daughter's life as much as he'd like to be, so he treats their alone time together vacationing at a Turkish resort as a precious — if fleeting — opportunity. Sophie is the typical, precocious kid on the cusp of puberty. She's mildly embarrassed by Calum,...
The bulk of Wells' film focuses on young father Calum (Paul Mescal) and his 11-year-old daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio). Calum and Sophie's mother have long since broken up; he isn't in his daughter's life as much as he'd like to be, so he treats their alone time together vacationing at a Turkish resort as a precious — if fleeting — opportunity. Sophie is the typical, precocious kid on the cusp of puberty. She's mildly embarrassed by Calum,...
- 9/14/2022
- by Sarah Milner
- Slash Film
An emotional Barry Jenkins began the Q&a portion of Monday morning’s screening of “Aftersun” at Telluride Film Festival by saying “Give me about 20 minutes man. I’m a fucking wreck.”
The Oscar winner and Telluride devotee appeared onstage both as a producer on the film and to moderate a conversation between writer/director Charlotte Wells and star Paul Mescal, but first admitted, “I didn’t want to watch this, man, because I haven’t seen it in a while.”
“Aftersun” is Wells’ fictional yet deeply personal film about a woman named Sophie (Celia Rowlson-Hall) reflecting on a vacation she took with her father 20 years ago that signified how there was a part of him she did not know. Mescal, as young dad Calum, mostly factors into the parts of the film that are memories, opposite a young Sophie played by Frankie Corio.
Although it is not an out-and-out tragedy,...
The Oscar winner and Telluride devotee appeared onstage both as a producer on the film and to moderate a conversation between writer/director Charlotte Wells and star Paul Mescal, but first admitted, “I didn’t want to watch this, man, because I haven’t seen it in a while.”
“Aftersun” is Wells’ fictional yet deeply personal film about a woman named Sophie (Celia Rowlson-Hall) reflecting on a vacation she took with her father 20 years ago that signified how there was a part of him she did not know. Mescal, as young dad Calum, mostly factors into the parts of the film that are memories, opposite a young Sophie played by Frankie Corio.
Although it is not an out-and-out tragedy,...
- 9/5/2022
- by Marcus Jones
- Indiewire
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