Aftersun & Civil War
15 April 2024, early afternoon
A weird double header of sorts for Sunday: Civil War in the afternoon with my friends and family, and then Aftersun alone at night. Two films that are difficult to watch in completely different ways. Civil Wars is Alex Garland’s latest film. The film follows war journalists covering a modern day civil war taking place in America. It’s an Alex Garland film, so we get to experience the full monstrosity of humanity. An intense movie that builds and builds to what felt like an inevitable conclusion. I felt the ending was a little bit rushed, the arc of the two leads felt too fast. Still, I enjoyed the film all the same. Aftersun was something else. A coming of age film. A film about memory and trying to understand the moments in our life that shape us. This film begins with a sense you’re going to watch one thing, and ends with you understanding you watched something completely different. This was a really beautiful movie. The ending sequence one of those incredible pieces of cinema that people will probably talk about forever and ever. It was a solid day of cinema.