Earlier this year, I wrote about perhaps one of my favorite movies of 2022, Charlotte Wells' "Aftersun," and how it masterfully weaves together a story of grief and closure. An earlier draft of that piece included anecdotes from my life, and while my experience with losing a parent is not exactly comparable to the film, I connected with it in a more intense and unique way than my peers. I removed those anecdotes from the final product to avoid divulging too deeply into my personal life, but my message in that piece remained the same: those who have lost loved ones at young ages will likely relate to how "Aftersun" depicts the lifelong grieving process attributed with such a terrifying experience.

However, with the film now available on digital platforms, there's been a strange shift in how people have talked about the film. Clips and screenshots have been shared without context,...