Production Budget Analysis

The production budget for Aftersun (2022) has not been publicly disclosed.

CAST: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Brooklyn Toulson, Celia Rowlson-Hall, Sally Messham, Ayşe Parlak DIRECTOR: Charlotte Wells CINEMATOGRAPHY: Gregory Oke MUSIC: Oliver Coates PRODUCTION: PASTEL, BBC Film, Tango Entertainment, Unified Theory, Screen Scotland, BFI

Box Office Performance

Aftersun earned $1,658,790 domestically and $6,175,615 internationally, for a worldwide total of $7,834,405. International markets drove the majority of revenue (79%), indicating strong global appeal.

Profitability Assessment

Insufficient publicly available data to assess profitability.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Production

Aftersun is director and writer Charlotte Wells' feature film debut. Calling it "emotionally autobiographical", she sought to delve into "a different period" in a relationship between a young parent and a daughter than what she explored in her 2015 debut short film Tuesday. Frankie Corio was one of over 800 applicants before being cast. During the two-week rehearsal period Corio and Mescal spent time at a holiday resort in order to make their dynamic more authentic.

In 2025, Charlotte Wells spoke about the production of Aftersun and her collaboration with Mescal, calling their partnership "the start of a potential De Niro–Scorsese relationship". She discussed the film's continued resonance while serving on the Bright Horizons jury at the Melbourne International Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival, where she chaired the Luigi De Laurentiis Award jury.

▸ Music & Score

#Mac Prindy – "High Hopes" #The Lightning Seeds – "Lucky You" #Los del Río – "Macarena (Bayside Boys Remix)" #Aqua – "My Oh My" #Catatonia – "Road Rage" #Blur – "Tender" #Bran van 3000 – "Drinking in L.A." #Deacon Blue – "Real Gone Kid" #Steps – "5,6,7,8" #R.E.M – "Losing My Religion" #The Righteous Brothers – "Unchained Melody" #Chumbawamba – "Tubthumping" #The Paragons – "The Tide is High" #All Saints – "Never Ever" #Candan Erçetin – "Gamsız Hayat" #Queen and David Bowie – "Under Pressure"

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 96 wins & 186 nominations total

Awards Won: ★ BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer ★ Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature ★ National Board of Review Award for Best Directorial Debut ★ New York Film Critics Circle Awards ★ National Board of Review: Top Ten Films ★ Grand prix du Festival de Deauville (2022 Deauville American Film Festival) ★ APRECI Award for Best International Premiere

Nominations: ○ European Film Award for Best Actor (35th European Film Awards) ○ BAFTA Award for Best Casting ○ BAFTA Award for Best British Film ○ BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role

CRITICAL RECEPTION

On Rotten Tomatoes, Aftersun holds an approval rating of 96% based on 245 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "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." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 95 out of 100 based on 46 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

The New York Times critic A.O. Scott called the film "astonishing and devastating", writing that Wells was "very nearly reinventing the language of film, unlocking the medium's often dormant potential to disclose inner worlds of consciousness and feeling." Screen Dailys Fionnuala Halligan wrote that Wells' "measured but relentless probing ... mark her out as one of the most promising new voices in British cinema in recent years". Guy Lodge of Variety called the film "sensuous, sharply moving". Carlos Aguilar of TheWrap praised Gregory Oke's "visually fluid" cinematography, saying it "evokes a radiant melancholia". In Empire, Beth Webb called the film a "deftly orchestrated, empathetic and honest character study" and "A triumph of new British filmmaking." In 2023, filmmaker Claire Denis said: "Never before have I felt the power of a point of view that immerses us into gazes that dare to secretly spar in front of the lens of a small videocamera. We are pulled in by the characters' words too, which comprise a kind of game that slowly reveals the father to his almost adolescent daughter." In 2024, filmmaker Christopher Nolan said Aftersun was one of his favorite films, calling it "just a beautiful film". In 2025, actors Vicky Krieps, Dolly de Leon and Stephen Merchant, composer Carter Burwell, and filmmakers Sofia Coppola and Joachim Trier listed Aftersun among their favorite films of the 21st century.