If ever a movie epitomized the word ‘interesting’, it would be David Lowery’s A Ghost Story. With leads like Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara, one would think a movie like this would get a massive distribution deal. Alas however it was picked up by A24, although as they’re a company that typically allows filmmakers to ‘do what they do’, this is actually a positive. Currently streaming on Netflix in the United States, A Ghost Story is one of the biggest headscratchers to hit screens in quite some time.
The title would have most assuming this is a horror movie, and though that’s not the case here, there is an element to it that could come off as ‘scary’. For some, especially of those who subscribe to religion, it may sound incredibly frightening. Time and again ghost films have played off of the idea of ‘unfinished business’, and it’s safe to say that’s not what this ghost story does. The gist of it is this- A musician known as ‘M’ (Affleck) lives in a home in Texas with his wife ‘C’ (Mara). One night they hear a loud bang on the piano downstairs and awake to find there’s nothing there. The next morning, M has been killed in a car accident. At the hospital, as C covers his corpse with a sheet, upon her exit M rises from the table taking the shape of a sheet with cut out eye holes. From then on, M haunts the home in which he and his wife lived watching as she grieves his loss, other inhabitants come and go, and living in an eternal time loop that seems as though it will never end.
Everything about A Ghost Story is intriguing.
Everything about A Ghost Story is intriguing. The directing choices of David Lowery are going to have buffs and professionals alike talking about his work for a long time. There’s a mixture of technique that he uses to tell the story. There are often cuts to move time very abruptly, longer shots on one area or action lasting an unusual amount of time, the implementation of the score to convey the tone or emotion, and sometimes just stillness and silence to accompany the ghost in the sheet. The little things counted here, and Lowery is deserving of that credit. As is Casey Affleck. Most of the movie he’s in ghost form having to do all of his acting without speaking or even showing his face. His physicality has to display all of his feelings, and this is not always an easy task though he more than lives up to. The same goes for Mara. She is afforded less screen time than her co-star, but makes up the time with ease whether she’s speaking or not.
It’s a movie that some will revere, and others won’t, but that shouldn’t stop anyone from at least seeing it once. Movies like this, regardless of personal opinion, should be appreciated for their uniqueness and originality and that’s exactly what A Ghost Story is: Original.
