Review- A Ghost Story

A Ghost Story is a film you haven't heard of but it's one that I think deserves to be discussed simply because what it does is interesting. The film may not always be entertaining but what it addresses and how deserves to be discussed. The story is part simple, part vague and therefore not easy to explain. What I can say for sure is that it is the story of a couple (played by Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck) who live together happily. One day, Affleck's character dies but then he comes back as a ghost. The catch is, he's not transparent, he's not invisible, he's not anything like that. Instead, he is a man in a sheet. In this state, he wanders, watching Rooney Mara cope with his death and then much more besides that. He stays in the same place but transcends time, learning about the land he once lived. The story is bare bones as you can probably tell and its basically just a vehicle for themes and such.

It's also hard to talk about acting in this film as very few characters stick around and the only one who does is covered by a sheet for most of the film. Still, I've committed to a paragraph on acting now so I'm talking about acting in a film with very few people in. Rooney Mara is probably the person who is on screen and actually visible for the longest so I'll start with her. She has very little dialogue and so most of her work is done by long silent glances and body language. In fact, one of her pivotal scenes is just her silently eating a chocolate tart. It's a scene that pushes people and asks if you're willing to just watch Rooney Mara act through her face for about five minutes. It definitely pushed me but I think it was a real testament to the subdued power of Mara as an actress that is rarely addressed. Casey Affleck is the "main" actor in the film and he's on screen without a sheet for probably about fifteen minutes total. In that time, he has the same quiet power of in Manchester by the Sea and oddly enough, that comes across when he's under the sheet. It may be that the ghost works more as a thematic signifier than it is that Affleck's acting is creating the power but it works regardless.

The thing is, the film is a hard sell. I'm pretty pretentious when it comes to movies and I've sat through all sorts of films. A Ghost Story is often slow, sometimes punishingly so and while I understand that that's what director David Lowery was going for, allowing for the audience to contemplate the themes he presents, it makes the film a harder watch than it could be for the viewers. Not all films have to have a rapid pace but Lowery really does push it. As I said, it ends up working as it gives the audience who haven't walked out time to soak up the imagery and comprehend what the ghost is watching. Even if that does sound like your kind of thing, the first ten minutes are going to be tough for you. In a film so deliberately slow and dialogue-less, the score has to do a lot of heavy lifting and that is true here with a wonderful score accompanying the haunting images. A special highlight of the score is the track "I Get Overwhelmed", a track that never failed to give me goosebumps.

As I wrap this review up, I'm aware that I haven't actually said loads about the film but that is because there isn't loads to say. It's a slow, introspective look at mortality and what we leave behind and not much more. If that sounds awful to you, don't watch it. If, however, you're interested by that pitch and you're willing to be pushed by a film, I'd recommend this film. It will split viewers but films that challenge audiences aren't prevalent enough. That's why I give A Ghost Story a