If you loved
Aftersun
Charlotte Wells · Film · 2022
What hooked you in Aftersun is the aching way memory blurs the line between childhood innocence and the private, hidden burdens parents carry.
Books on the same thread
Fun Home
Alison Bechdel · Book · 2007
Like Aftersun, this graphic novel uses a retrospective lens to examine a distant father, untangling the complex family secrets that define a daughter's own evolving sense of self.
Three Junes
Julia Glass · Book · 2002
If the emotional resonance of Aftersun moved you, this novel offers a similarly poignant exploration of love and loss as a family navigates the quiet, lingering weight of grief.
The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale (Pantheon Graphic Library)
Art Spiegelman · Book · 2022
This work shares the heavy, investigative heart of Aftersun, capturing a child's struggle to reconcile their own memories with the traumatic history and private pain of their father.
Homestretch
Velma Pollard · Book · 1994
Much like the vacation setting of Aftersun, this story uses the return to a domestic space to highlight the tensions between cultural identity and the people we leave behind.
Series on the same thread
The Haunting of Hill House
Mike Flanagan · Series · 2018
The way Aftersun uses fragmented memories to process past trauma finds a darker parallel here, as a family revisits their history to confront the ghosts of their collective grief.
Succession
Jesse Armstrong · Series · 2018
While more cynical than Aftersun, this series demands that you look past the facade of a powerful father figure to understand the dysfunctional reality of his children's lives.
Atypical
Robia Rashid · Series · 2017
This series captures the same delicate family dynamics found in Aftersun, focusing on the painful yet necessary journey of self-discovery that occurs when a child seeks personal independence.
Saat Kadam
K. Mohit Kumar Jha · Series · 2021
If you were drawn to the father-daughter connection in Aftersun, this story offers a similar meditation on the generation gap and the difficult path toward reconciliation between parent and child.
Podcasts on the same thread
Revisionist History
Pushkin Industries · Podcast · 2026
Just as Aftersun asks you to reconsider the past, this podcast challenges your perception of history by re-examining misunderstood events and the fallibility of our own established narratives.
CounterClock
Audiochuck · Podcast · 2025
The investigative spirit of Aftersun, which seeks to fill the gaps in memory, is echoed in this series as it turns back time to uncover truths hidden for decades.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is Aftersun based on a true story?
Aftersun is a 2022 film written and directed by Charlotte Wells. It depicts Sophie reflecting on a holiday taken with her father twenty years earlier, reconciling the man she knew with the troubled individual she did not fully understand during that time.
What is the premise of Aftersun?
The film follows Sophie as she reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years prior. The narrative uses camcorder footage and memories to bridge the gaps in her understanding of her father.
Does Aftersun focus on Sophie's relationship with her father?
Yes, Aftersun centers on Sophie as she looks back at a specific holiday spent with her father. She attempts to reconcile her memories of their shared joy with the private melancholy and hidden struggles her father faced during that period.
How does Aftersun portray the passage of time?
Aftersun portrays the passage of time through the perspective of an adult Sophie looking back at events from twenty years earlier. She uses camcorder footage and fragmented memories to piece together the reality of her father's life during their holiday.