| Director | Charlotte Wells |
|---|---|
| Budget | £920,000 |
| Box office | $9.7 million |
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. Sophie records the holiday on a MiniDV camera, the footage of which is interspersed throughout the film. 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. Calum exhibits signs of depression and internal turmoil, which he tries to hide from Sophie beneath a facade of contentment. During his time alone, he practices tai chi and reads self-help books; he also hides his smoking from Sophie.
One day, Sophie and Calum go scuba diving. Sophie loses her expensive scuba mask; her father feigns nonchalance, but she senses his actual feelings and comforts him. Calum later tells their diving instructor that he is surprised he has lived to be 30. Soon after, the two go to a rug shop, where she sees him grapple with the cost of one he likes. He declines to buy the rug, but later returns alone to do so.
The next night, Sophie and Calum attend a karaoke night during which the former signs them up for a song. Calum refuses to sing with Sophie despite her insistence; Sophie sings "Losing My Religion" alone as he watches. Upset at being left alone by him, Sophie refuses to return to their room and hangs out with tourists she had previously met playing pool. Michael creeps up on Sophie from behind, frightening her. They later kiss beside a pool. Meanwhile, Calum walks into the nearby ocean. When Sophie returns to their room, she finds him asleep naked and gently covers him with a sheet.
The two reconcile the next day while travelling to the mud baths and Calum apologises for his behaviour the previous night. Sophie surprises him by having other tourists sing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" for his 31st birthday. Calum watches stoically before later sobbing in the hotel room alone; on the floor is a postcard addressed to Sophie that tells her to never forget that he loves her. On the last night of their holiday, Calum and Sophie dance to "Under Pressure" in a loving embrace. At the airport the next morning, Calum waves goodbye and sends Sophie off on her flight home. In the present day, the adult Sophie lives in New York City with her wife and young child. The rug Calum bought, worn with use, lies on their bedroom floor. Sophie watches the MiniDV footage from Turkey.
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 emotionally through strobing lights. Throughout the sequences, Sophie attempts to get closer to him, eventually briefly embracing him; with their hands wrapped around each other, Calum ultimately falls from Sophie's grasp. In the final scene, Calum packs the camcorder away and walks down the airport hallway after having waved goodbye to Sophie, opening the doors to the rave.