A Ghost Story (2017)

Was delighted to find this on Netflix after not making it to the cinema to see it. Last night, I watched it and it was quite unlike any other film I've ever seen. It's not a horror, it's not a drama, a thriller or a comedy. It's a fantasy but it's also completely unlike any film I've ever watched. The premise is simple. Casey Affleck (C) and Rooney Mara (M) are a couple and the film starts with scenes of their domestic lives. C is then killed (not a spoiler) and M has to identify his body. So far, so familiar. What follows is film-making of a different kind. Yes, the idea of a dead person revisiting their loved one isn't new (Ghost, for example) and neither is the idea of a film from the point of view of a ghost (The Others) but the way it's done here is completely original and brilliantly effective. It's a brave move to design the ghost as a sheet with eye holes (much like a five year old would draw a ghost) and it shouldn't work but it does. At no point is it comical or absurd; once I'd got my head around it, I accepted it completely. C's ghost returns to the home and then plays silent, invisible witness to M's life as she grieves and moves forward. There is one remarkable scene (lasting a good few minutes) that shows only M eating a pie before being sick. C's ghost doesn't move throughout, watching and observing but unable to connect. It's a scene that drifts towards being too long before becoming more powerful. The rest of the film then plays with time, perspective and every other dimension going. The idea of existentialism rears its head constantly, particularly in one long speech (especially noteworthy in a film low on dialogue) by a house member who questions just how much we have to do in life (and how we nearly all fail) to ensure that we will be remembered by more than the next generation. All the while, C is there, watching and observing. He learns to affect the material items around him but ultimately, he is trapped. C is trapped in death and can't move on, M is trapped in grief but can move on. This dreamlike, hypnotic film will be a Marmite experience. For the many who will watch it and think "what the hell was that dull, dreary nonsense all about?", there will be someone who just falls in love with it. There's no storyline to unravel, no dialogue to quote and requote, no action, drama, car chases or raucous laughs, just a series of scenes and images that I couldn't get enough of. It's like watching a beautiful and completely original dream and it's a dream I'll watch again. 8.5/10

Don't expect a typical horror movie, don't expect a ghost story, this is a story about a ghost. As we follow along the ghost of a man, the movie portraits the loneliness we associate to death, both on the living, who go on, and the dead. Grief is closely observed, almost voyeuristicly, and that is scary and disturbing as hell. Being left in this world "alone" by the one you love is definitely one of the most horrible things one can experience. And that's what horror is all about. On another hand, we see the utter loneliness of someone who dies. We will all have to cross that final door, completely alone. I mean, while we're greeted and cheered on upon entering this world, there's that dread, specially for the non-religious, that we'll be completely alone in the end. That is also what horror is all about. We have the opportunity to understand the logic of the ghost's voyage, from the director's perspective. What the ghost had to do to move on. What we will possibly have to do. And that's somewhat hopeful, the fact that the movie hints there's somewhere to move on to. But nothing too specific. And we can never be sure, right? You'd have to be pretty naive if you were expecting the ending to give you some straightforward answers. Life and death don't give you answers. All you can do is take it one day at a time and take long walks by the sea and spend time laughing and loving. Because life will always end up against a brick wall, no matter what. That's the only clear message the movie leaves us with, told us by that random guy at the party. Other than that we can only watch and let those feelings sink in and grow up a little. Learn something. And turn tomorrow into a good day.

Steer as clear from this waste of time film. The size of the film is that of a postage stamp. And has MADE MY BLOOD BOIL as we spend a grand on huge TVs for the director to offer us this, what a dick! NO DIALOGUE. VERY SLOW. INFURIATING INFURIATING INFURIATING size of the screen lost the 1st 50 % of my business then the sheet with the 2 eyes cut out did the other 50 % of my business. Switching off now. Thank god it was free.

8 stars, probably 4 more than I would have given it right after watching this. Slow burn in more ways than just the unfolding of the narrative. It took time for what I viewed to sink in. My instant gratification brain resisted right till the end. When is the big twist or reveal or anything like an explosion or sudden plot resolution. Nothing, at least nothing like I was accustomed to. A simple story of loss and the cyclical nature of life. What is important to us? It's to know the truest of thoughts of those we love and lose.