Starring Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, and Celia Rowlson-Hall, the film is loosely based on Wells' childhood and follows an 11-year-old Scottish girl on holiday with her father at a Turkish resort on the eve of his 31st birthday.

Aftersun received four nominations at the 76th BAFTA Awards, where Wells won for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.

[6][7][8] In 1999, Scottish 11-year-old Sophie Patterson travels to a Turkish holiday resort with her 30-year-old father, Calum, who moved to London after separating amicably from her mother.

Over the course of the holiday, Sophie befriends and observes various teenage English tourists at the resort, often meeting and playing arcade games with a boy named Michael.

Interspersed throughout the film are abstract, dreamlike sequences in which the adult Sophie stands in the middle of a crowded rave, catching glimpses of Calum dancing frantically through strobing lights.

In the final scene, Calum packs the videocamera away and walks down the airport hallway after having waved goodbye to Sophie, opening the doors to the rave.

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.

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.

"[31] Screen Daily's 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".

[34] In Empire, Beth Webb called the film a "deftly orchestrated, empathetic and honest character study" and "A triumph of new British filmmaking.

[38] A copy of Tait's Poems, Stories and Writings lies between a tai chi manual and a self-help book in Calum's pile of holiday readings.

Pat Brown of Slant Magazine called the film's "Under Pressure" sequence one of the best movie scenes of 2022, saying that it "brings to the surface what was kept simmering throughout: the searing pain of loss that's led Sophie to reflect on the past.

Far Out ranked the film 16th on its list of "The 21 Greatest Movies of the 21st Century", calling it "A poetic tale told with a marvelous understanding of cinematography" that "seems to define the contradictory contemporary world, where loneliness and detachment fester in a society that is technically more connected than ever".