A Ghost Story (2017)

Directed by: David Lowery | 93 minutes | drama, fantasy | Actors: Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, McColm Cephas Jr., Kenneisha Thompson, Grover Coulson, Liz Cardenas, Barlow Jacobs, Richard Krause, Dagger Salazar, Sonia Acevedo, Carlos Bermudez, Yasmina Gutierrez, Kimberly Fides, Daniel Escudero, Kesha, Jared Kopf Afomia Hailemeskel, Will Oldham, Brea Grant, Augustine Frizzell, Jonny Mars, Rachel Ballard, Bryan Pitts, Rob Zabrecky, Sara Tomerlin, Margot Tomerlin, Sylvie Tomerlin, Savanna Walsh

Where does that anxiety come from? The turmoil of a wandering spirit, the remnant of a dead man returning to the place where it once lived. For some reason such a ghost always has to rattle on doors, send glasses flying through the air or slide coasters across a table. Even the most humble mind occasionally goes wild and chases his entire family. But why?

We find an answer to that question in the meditative drama ‘A Ghost Story’. We meet a young couple (referred to in the film as C and M) who are spending their days somewhere in rural America. One day the man dies unexpectedly. Even more unexpectedly, he returns as a sort of retro ghost (a sheet with two holes for the eyes) to the house where his widow is mourning. There he observes her, becomes acquainted with a ghost among the neighbors and feels how his existence is slowly but surely disappearing into history.

The first part of ‘A Ghost Story’ is mainly about grief. This is the least exciting part of the drama, although it is nice to show such a grieving process without any dialogue. The second part is more fascinating, the mourning is released and the viewer is taken on a trip along themes such as transience, time and the repeatability of everything. As heavy as this may sound, the tone of ‘A Ghost Story’ is never dramatic or sentimental, rather reserved and cautiously philosophical. Think (also visually) of the better films of Terrence Malick or the Southeast Asian arthouse.

There’s hardly any dialogue in this movie, but with a great actress like Rooney Mara, there’s no need to. We see less of Casey Affleck (except for that sheet with the holes) but the attitude and actions of the mind show how things are going. The film is sometimes funny and especially in the second part the big time jumps give the viewer a big boost.

‘A Ghost Story’ is another testament to the great talent of writer/director David Lowery (‘Ain’t Them Bodies Saints’). Not a film for the masses, but for fans of unorthodox, slow, in-depth cinema. And for people who think that noisy ghosts always mean evil. They don’t. Not always.