British tourists have always had a reputation. Since the days of Byron, Shelley and Keats in Geneva and Italy and the Grand Tour which wealthy young men traditionally undertook until the early 19th century (think Colin in Bridgerton!). By the Edwardian era, it was also acceptable for wealthy young women to embark on European travel. With an appropriate chaperone and a trusty Baedeker guide, of course – which can be seen in Room with a View (1985).
By the 1970s and 1980s, European travel became much more affordable for the masses and many working class families began to take their first foreign holidays. The most popular destinations were, and remain Portugal (mainly the Algarve) and the Costa del Sol. Balearic Islands and Canary Islands of Spain. As well as Greece, Cyprus and Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean. Before the internet began to dominate, every British high street would have several travel agencies offering package holidays to these destinations. And going “all inclusive” was a popular option.
The British package holiday is such a specific cultural experience that has very little to do with the culture of the country where the holiday is happening. And everything to do with the British culture that the tourists bring with them. Despite it being a source of such rich material, not many films have tackled this subject matter. There are a few notable exceptions, such as the absolutely delightful Shirley Valentine (1989). But nowhere near as many as there should be.
Thankfully, in the last couple of years, two emerging filmmakers have used package holidays in Greece and Turkey as settings to explore two British girls at a vulnerable and impressionable age. Charlotte Wells’ semi-autobiographical Aftersun is about an 11-year-old girl, Sophie (Frankie Corio), on holiday with her 31-year-old Dad Calum (played by the deservedly Oscar-nominated Paul Mescal). Molly Manning Walker’s How to Have Sex is about Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce), a 16-year-old girl celebrating the post-GCSE exams summer with her mates in Malia, Crete.
On the surface, the holiday in Aftersun seems the more appealing of the two. It takes place in the late 1990s, so there’s a slow-paced, relaxed, nostalgic feel to the people sitting on sun loungers around the pool, without scrolling on smartphones. Because the holiday is centered around the young Sophie, there isn’t as much binge-drinking and debauched partying. Which is usually the main feature of Brits abroad.
Wells’ incredible, dream-like cinematography and editing makes it seem as though the events are already unfolding in a past. Which the adult Sophie can’t quite grasp onto. Repeated shots of paragliders floating above Calum and Sophie really add to the hazy, nebulous atmosphere. We do occasionally glimpse the more cringe-inducing traditional aspects of the package holiday. Such as the holiday reps performing the Macarena (something which Calum and Sophie join together in mocking). And the performing of karaoke (which Sophie wants to do, while Calum absolutely cannot bring himself to join her onstage). Sophie even has her first ‘snog’ with a boy her own age – a significant rite of passage.
For Tara in How to Have Sex, she is under absolutely enormous peer pressure to undergo her own rite of passage – losing her virginity. From the moment the three friends land in Malia, every single aspect of the holiday seems like an absolute nightmare, as an objective (and older) outsider, looking in.
There’s a relentless quest for chips and fags (cigarettes), and absolutely mind-boggling quantities of booze. There seems to be a race as to who can puke first, as well as who will ‘cop off’ first, of course. One of the few appealing aspects is the soundtrack. With euphoric dance tracks such as Joel Corry’s Head & Heart and Major Lazer’s Light It Up. But we don’t even see the girls dancing that much. Instead, they attend pool parties with drinking and sex games, which Tara looks uncomfortable with.
McKenna-Bruce’s performance shines out at the centre of the film. With her outwardly bubbly character who finds everything to be ‘jokes.’ As things start to unravel with Paddy (Samuel Bottomley, in another extremely impressive performance) towards the end of the holiday, McKenna-Bruce slowly reveals how wounded she is underneath all the levity. And then we reach the absolutely devastating line reading of “it’s fine” in the film’s concluding airport scene.
Something that Aftersun has in common with How to Have Sex is its own, absolutely shattering ending. Both filmmakers take us to the ‘hangover’ stage at the denouement of the two holidays. And leave us questioning if all the ‘fun’ that came before was worth it. The characters reach the post-holiday blues stage while still at the foreign airports, before even getting back to Blighty.
Sophie’s Dad Calum seems to slide further and further out of her reach as the holiday progresses. And we see the adult Sophie desperately trying to hold onto him. Particularly in a dancefloor scene set to Under Pressure. Sophie has filmed a lot of the holiday on a camcorder, so this is something that the adult Sophie has to cling onto.
Throughout the film, we see Calum in the corner of mirrors, or reflected in a TV screen, he is rarely shot in a straightforward way. As if he’s already disappearing out of the frame that is Sophie’s world. It’s strongly hinted that this holiday is adult Sophie’s last memory of her Dad. And it taking place in a foreign environment perhaps makes this harder for her. Calum is not comfortable in his surroundings. And despite him trying to create a happy holiday memory for his daughter, she is perceptive enough to pick up on his well of sadness and anxiety.
Unfortunately, Aftersun and especially How to Have Sex do not make the British package holiday seem like an appealing proposition. But they’re a microcosm of British culture, and really do reveal so much about the British psyche. So they are absolutely worth exploring in cinematic form. It’s so exciting that we’ve had Charlotte Wells and Molly Manning Walker making their directorial debuts within the last couple of years. And choosing the package holiday as their settings. Let’s hope that more filmmakers begin to dive into this material. Because there is so much there to expose and examine – from the specific, to the universal.