A Ghost Story is a weird one to review- and a weird one in general- in that I expect most people will either love it or hate it. Or, at the very least, want to get lost in it on a regular basis or be bored to tears by it. Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle.
On the one hand, you have to admire the unmitigated chutzpah it took to make a film that's basically 75% a silent film in this day and age. There's a little dialogue at the beginning, a short downer spiel from a party-pooper in the middle, and a little dialogue at the end. The rest is in untranslated Spanish. That's literally it. The rest is basically silence.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't nod off a bit here and there, causing me to have to rewind a few times- and it's not like I was watching it all that late in the evening or I was especially tired. Though it's sort of perfect for that, especially if you have kids or a spouse/significant other that has to get up early.
My loyal readers will remember that I have a weird subcategory of films I like to crash out to because they have a certain mellow vibe to them that allows for it. I'm talking stuff like Under the Skin, Vampyros Lesbos, a lot of Lynch's oeuvre.
Granted, some of that might give you weird dreams, but I don't mind a bizarre dream, just so long as I can sleep in the first place, which has never come easy to me. A Ghost Story is perfect if you need something unobtrusive to get you into a place where you can drift right off to sleep, but I'm not entirely sure that's a compliment in this case.
The story, such as it is, revolves around a man, known only as "C" in the credits, played by Casey Affleck (coming off an Oscar win for his riveting turn in Manchester by the Sea), who unexpectedly dies in a car accident just outside the house in which he lives, just as he and his wife are about to move.
The wife, identified only as "M" in the credits, is played by Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). We see them interact a bit before the accident, then we see her in the aftermath, as she identifies the body, goes home and eats a pie for a good solid five minutes or more, throws up and eventually, gets on with her life, moving out of the house once she realizes it will always remind her of her husband.
As all this is happening, "C" rises from the dead, sees a sort of doorway, but opts not to go through it, instead, remaining behind to watch over his wife. Instead of a "Ghost," a la Patrick Swayze, we get a jokey "ghost," a la It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. We're talking a guy in a sheet. For basically the entire movie.
Now right about now, you might be asking yourself: why in the world hire an Oscar-winning actor if you're just going to have him under a sheet for the better part of ninety minutes? You got me.
My only answer to that is that Affleck and the director, David Lowery, along with Mara, worked together previously on the movie Ain't Them Bodies Saints, which I have not seen. Hopefully, it doesn't involve Mara running around in a sheet for ninety minutes, serving as a "spiritual" prequel to this film.
I can only guess it was a positive experience, or the two of them wouldn't have agreed to do such a movie, as there's not a whole lot of acting going on here. Once Mara exits the movie about fifteen minutes in, she's gone mostly for good, save a brief bit at the end where "C" reflects on their past together.
Indeed, I was hesitant to believe that even was Affleck under there until I watched the making of featurette, where they confirm that it was him the vast majority of the time. I just figured he was like: "Easiest paycheck I ever made in my life! I'm out! See ya!"
But according to the doc, they only had to do some brief pick-up shots without him on the fly to get some stuff they needed after initial shooting- otherwise, it's all him. I can't imagine that was much of an acting challenge, though.
So, basically, we just watch "C" under his sheet for the movie, as he is stuck in the same location for the bulk of the film. Although "C" does make the journey from the hospital to his house, he seems to be tethered to the location of his house from the moment he arrives moving forward- and backward, as it were. (You'll see.)
After his wife leaves, a Latin family moves in, and "C" isn't happy about it. He learns to move stuff and flicker the lights and the like, and messes with the family, who understandably freak out and leave the house.
Then some squatters show up to party for a while (including Kesha, aka The Artist Formerly Known as Ke$ha!), which is where we get the wonky monologue from the blowhard, about the nature of life and death and what have you, obviously meant to be the "moral" of the story, such as it is.
Soon after, the house is demolished to make way for a high-rise office building, and "C" haunts that, too. I suppose what happens next qualifies as a "twist," so I won't reveal it here, but suffice it to say something happens that leads "C" to reflect back to the beginning of the story and come to terms with things enough to contemplate moving on for real.
That's about it. If it sounds a bit like a non-starter, well, it sort of is. Not a lot happens. We just see "C" the ghost meandering about gloomily, as people come in and out of his "life," most of whom he doesn't even try to interact with, save the Latin family.
Not sure if their being Spanish-speaking immigrants is supposed to "mean" anything, but given the current climate, it crossed my mind- or maybe I was just bored and trying to read more into it than there really was.
Either way, he only takes out his anger at his given situation on them, so make out of that what you will. Personally, I would have saved it for the hipster squatters, but maybe that's just me. But seriously, that one guy is hella annoying.
As I listened to him drone on, I couldn't help but think I was really listening to the writer/director, trying to make his big "statement" of what it all means. Not just his film, mind you, but everything in general, as in the "Meaning of Life." I'll stick with Monty Python's version, thanks. Or at least Douglas Adams'.
If this all sounds pretty pretentious, you are correcto-mundo. As a short film, running maybe 15-30 minutes, this might have been relatively interesting and even approaching something more profound than it really is. But stretched out to an exhausting ninety minutes, it's just a snooze-fest.
Yes, there are some undeniably beautiful images, and the film does approach something touching in scenes such as the one in which "C" spots a fellow ghost across the way from his house, also waiting for someone to return that likely never will. Indeed, the ghost has been there so long, it's forgotten who it's waiting on. Now THAT'S profound and sad.
Like I said, something like that would have been undeniably touching and meaningful in a short film. But here, it's just a nice moment early on before the film eventually disappears up its own ass. Literally.
Now, you might say- you mentioned Lynch earlier. What makes him so special? Didn't he spend a good solid five minutes or so showing someone sweep a floor to Booker T. & The MG's "Green Onions" on the Twin Peaks revival?
Yes. Yes, he surely did. And I could certainly understand how someone would find that equally annoying as Rooney Mara eating pie for around the same amount of time. (If I had wanted to watch Mara eat pie for five minutes, I'd have rather watched Carol, lol. Thanks! I'll be here all week!)
And there is a point to the Mara's scene- it's about her going through the stages of grief. I guess I just like Lynch's brand of weirdness better than Lowery's. (Though about that sweeping scene...)
Look, don't get me wrong. I have some idea as to what Lowery was going for, having watched the making of doc, down to the oh-so-radical use of a "box ratio"- as in the kind of framing typically not seen since TV's went widescreen. But it's just a bit too long, and after a certain point, I can't imagine anyone not getting it, even without the doc to spell it out for them.
My favorite revelation in the documentary was itself sort of borrowed from a better source. It turns out that a sizable portion of the lovely score by Daniel Hart is a much-slowed-down version of part of the song that "C" plays for "M." (Think the way Inception used the Édith Piaf song "Non, je ne regrette rein" in a similar fashion.) That's pretty cool.
But overall, I just can't recommend A Ghost Story in good faith. If this sounds like the sort of thing you might find beautiful and lyrical and so forth, then it probably will be- to you. For me, it was just a bit of a bore- and ninety minutes of my life I won't get back.
But hey, it could be worse: I could be stuck in the same place for eternity, right? The real moral of the story: when a door opens, you might as well go through it. Unless that door leads to a movie screen showing A Ghost Story, that is. (Ghost Story, on the other hand... I'm in. 😊)
Don't check it out... unless you're wanting to check out- of consciousness, that is. 💀👻👼😒
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