‘Aftersun,’ ‘Anomalisa’ and More Streaming Gems

‘Aftersun’ (2022)

Stream it on Netflix.

Charlotte Wells writes and directs this stunning memory play, which begins as a wandering account of a divorced father (Paul Mescal) and his 11-year-old daughter (Frankie Corio), on holiday for his birthday; the mood is languid and mellow, capturing the carefree dreaminess of vacation, with nowhere to be and nothing to do. But this is no mere hangout, and Wells expertly deploys brief but affecting flash-forwards to snap the story she’s telling into focus, juxtaposing glowing, nostalgic memories with the cold, tough present. It’s a tour-de-force of instinctive, emotional filmmaking, anchored by the dazzling acting of Mescal (deservedly Oscar-nominated) and Corio (who turns in one of the best performances by a young actor in recent memory).

‘Anomalisa’ (2015)

Stream it on Amazon Prime Video.

The surrealist screenwriter and filmmaker Charlie Kaufman (“Being John Malkovich,” “Synechoche, New York”) directed this puppet-populated comedy-drama with the stop-motion animation specialist Duke Johnson — but this is no “Muppet Movie,” or even a “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” Kaufman’s screenplay is populated with his signature brand of neurotic malcontents, here in the form of a depressed motivational speaker (voiced by David Thewlis) on a business trip who meets a sunny young woman (voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh) and decides she is the answer to his ennui. Kaufman and Johnson transcend the potential gimmickry of the puppetry artifice, deftly driving home the picture’s delicate themes of isolation and loneliness in a hermetically-sealed world.

‘A Love Song’ (2022)

Stream it on Hulu.