Aftersun (2022) Ending Explained
TL;DR:
The ending of Aftersun (2022) is a poignant and ambiguous exploration of memory, grief, and the passage of time. The film follows a father, Calum (Paul Mescal), and his 11-year-old daughter, Sophie (Frankie Corio), during a summer vacation at a Turkish resort. The final scenes reveal that the story is framed through Sophie's adult perspective as she revisits fragmented memories of her father, who may have been struggling with depression and eventual suicide. The climactic scene, set to Queen and David Bowie's Under Pressure, shows Calum dancing alone in a strobe-lit rave, symbolizing his emotional turmoil and Sophie's inability to fully understand or save him. The film leaves much open to interpretation, emphasizing the elusiveness of memory and the weight of unresolved loss.
Detailed Explanation of the Ending
The ending of Aftersun is intentionally ambiguous, relying on visual metaphor and emotional resonance rather than explicit narrative closure. The film is structured as a series of memories from Sophie's childhood, intercut with glimpses of her as an adult watching old camcorder footage of their vacation. The final moments suggest that Calum, her father, may have taken his own life sometime after their trip-a tragedy that Sophie, as a child, could not fully comprehend. The climactic rave scene, where Calum dances alone in a strobe-lit darkness, becomes a haunting metaphor for his inner suffering. The flashing lights obscure his face, just as time and memory obscure Sophie's ability to fully grasp what her father was going through.
The use of Under Pressure in this scene is particularly significant. The song's lyrics—"Pressure pushing down on me"—mirror Calum's emotional burden, while the chaotic, disjointed visuals reflect Sophie's fractured recollections. The rave is not a literal event but a symbolic representation of her father's mental state, one that she can only reconstruct in fragments. The film's nonlinear structure reinforces this idea, as past and present blur, leaving the audience-like Sophie-to piece together an incomplete picture. The final shot of Calum walking away into the darkness underscores the permanence of his absence and Sophie's lingering grief.
Unresolved Questions & Possible Answers
- Did Calum die by suicide?
- The film strongly implies it through visual cues (e.g., the adult Sophie's sorrow, the melancholic tone, the recurring imagery of water as a metaphor for drowning in depression). However, it's never confirmed outright.
- Why does the rave scene feel so disconnected from reality?
- It likely represents Sophie's adult imagination trying to reconcile her father's pain with her childhood memories. The strobe lights symbolize how memory flickers and distorts over time.
- What is the significance of the broken TV and the repeated shots of Calum adjusting it?
- The faulty TV could symbolize Calum's deteriorating mental state or Sophie's inability to "fix" or fully understand her father's struggles.
Personal Opinion on the Ending & Film
Aftersun is a masterclass in subtle storytelling, using silence and suggestion to convey profound emotion. The ending is devastating precisely because it refuses to offer easy answers. Instead, it immerses the viewer in Sophie's perspective-her confusion, her love, and her regret. The film's power lies in its restraint; rather than dramatizing Calum's fate, it focuses on the aftershocks of loss and the way children retrospectively interpret their parents' vulnerabilities. The rave scene is one of the most haunting sequences in recent cinema, a perfect encapsulation of the film's themes. While some may find the ambiguity frustrating, I think it's what makes Aftersun so deeply moving-it mirrors the way real grief often lacks closure.
Final Thoughts on the Film's Impact
Aftersun lingers long after the credits roll because it captures something universal: the way we mythologize our past and the people we've lost. The film doesn't just tell a story about a father and daughter; it's about how memory shapes identity and how love persists even when understanding fails. The ending, with its unresolved sorrow, feels truer to life than a neatly tied conclusion ever could. It's a film that demands emotional engagement, rewarding viewers who are willing to sit with its quiet, aching beauty. Whether or not Calum's fate is explicitly confirmed becomes almost irrelevant-what matters is Sophie's journey to make sense of him, and by extension, herself.