A Ghost Story

This minimalist fantasy-drama by David Lowery portrays the journey of a deceased man's ghost who returns to the home where he and his wife lived together up until his untimely and tragic death. To describe the ghost's psychology in this journey might be giving away too much. The plot is straightforward but it addresses themes of human existence and eternity in a way that many big-budget films don't even try. The ghost's simplistic form might seem odd or laughable at first. This was not the case with me. I found the ghost's emergence and entry into the film to be seamless and thoroughly convincing. The narrative initially dissects local aspects of the plot, such as what type of relationship the man had with his wife and who he seemed to be as a person. Then it proceeds to become something much more ambitious- waxing philosophical on how we spend our time on Earth and what meaning, if any, we should hope to derive from it. The film's augmentation in scope can be risky for a small, unpretentious work, but in the end, it resonates quite well. As for the performances, everyone here is great but Rooney Mara is exceptionally understated here, not the least for the scene where she eats an entire pie in a moment of intense pain. She is able to convey the grave reality of mourning without ever resorting to histrionics or conventional acting displays. She is low-key and completely effective here, as is Casey Affleck who portrays the detached husband. They worked with director Lowery in the lesser film "Ain't Them Bodies Saints", but here their collaboration reaches greater heights. As simple as this ghost appears, there is never a dearth of sympathy or doubt about its presence. The film's uses of long takes and pregnant silence create an unexpected degree of tension. It deploys a soundtrack that is alternately mournful and quirky. And for all the melancholy mood that pervades, there are discreet moments of humor, making for a bittersweet cinematic work of art. Strongly recommended.

If I could I would rate this in the negative 7-8 star range. ******Spoiler Alert***** Nothing, not a damn thing happens. Someone walks around in a giant double king size sheet with two childish holes cut out for eyes...Casper would've been a better look...for 9/10ths of this drag out. I just kept fast forwarding and missed nothing because nothing happens. Not even the last scene where the sheet digs at the wall, pulls out a piece of paper, the eye holes stare at the paper for a second and then *POOF* the sheet collapses. The End. No seriously...that's how this 90 min, that should have been a 5 min. short, ends. I've taken better shits then this. Hollyweird thinks a lot of itself. They're under the distinct impression that the general public are stupid enough to fall for a spooky ooky picture of what children envision ghost to be and slap a very 2nd grade title to it and the general public will fall over themselves to pay to see this goo. Thank God I paid not a cent to see this. I am up to here with the obviously paid fake reviews. At the time of my review, this is rated 7.6. My rating = Negative 7.6, it's THAT BAD!!

I cannot believe that the top-rated comment is so very inaccurate. To begin, David Lowry's previous offering "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" being a hit, sounds more like a plug for that film than a true statement, due to the fact that it was not considered a hit at all. Go figure. Secondly, when worded so nicely in that 'this story is about a young couple who ... (insert all the stuff they supposedly do such as buy the home and the wife experiencing the moments of life without him, etc.), it sounds great, only that's not true either. It shows none of this, but rather concentrates on the most menial of actions without ever exploring more of either their relationship with each other or with anything else. Literally, you get no back story and no ending, and even if you did, you have nothing to hold the two together besides scenes of total mundaneness and dull, boring, tediousness. I will admit that there are a couple of laugh out loud moments. The problem is that given the tone of the film, I don't believe these moments are supposed to be funny, which makes the film that more awkward. In closing, one of the reviewers before me said it best: you have been warned. This is a bore-fest.

"A Ghost Story" is one of the most overrated and boring movies ever made. The IMDb User Rating, the title and the names of Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara lure the viewers that might expect a good film. Do not waste your time watching this flick unless you have insomnia or whatsapp to download and read; or a magazine or even a book to read. Otherwise you will certainly lose your patience or take a nap. My vote is one (awful). Title (Brazil): Not Available BE CAREFUL WITH THE FAKE REVIEWS OF PEOPLE GIVING A HIGH RATING AND PROMOTING THIS CRAP. CLICK ON THE NAME OF THE REVIEWER AND CHECK HOW MANY REVIEWS HE/SHE HAS IN IMDb.

Where to begin... Well for one thing, how the hell has it got a rating higher than 1??? This was a terrible film, so boring and pointless. Actually, it was probably my fault because every film with Casey Affleck has been boring. Not sure if I'm allowed to swear but not only boring, but crap. Just as bad an actor as his brother Ben. It's like the script writer writes a crap script and thinks "Who shall we get to act in this crap film? Oh I know, one of the Afflecks! But it is a pretty crap script so it'll have to be Casey yet again...!!!" And there you have it! Oh, and who wants to see the woman eating a full apple pie in real time or watch the husband in the morgue under a sheet for 5 minutes. I mean, I actually had to check to see if I had my computer on PAUSE! So, my advice, stay away... stay 'very' away from this film. You'll thank me! Honest!

The exploration of the enormity of life when a recently deceased ghost returns to his house to try and reconnect with his wife. Made on a shoe string and in secret, it is a hypnotic observation of life and time after we die and it achieves to visually convey the psychological weight of certain death and that life will continue once we're gone. The people sitting next to me left the cinema about 20 minutes in because it is indeed a very slow moving film and I can understand why they left but that's the point of the film. Life is not a highlights reel, and this film achieves to show its enormity through legacy, love and loss. It is philosophical, psychological and extremely poetic. A wonderfully strange film.

My wife and I went to see this movie yesterday. We both like the stars of the movie so we gave it a chance. From the beginning every scene was drawn out for several minutes I guess for dramatic purposes however if that was the reason it didn't work. There was a scene that was about 10 minutes long just watching a pie being eaten. The movie had hardly any dialogue and was like the pie eating scene just a cobbled together bunch of long drawn out scenes for no apparent reason. It would have been more exciting to watch my 30.00 swirl down the toilet than watching this complete boor fest.

Alright. I confess. I am an emotional person. After seeing the Plugged In review for this film, I cautiously threw this movie in on a slow, Saturday night. I assumed that it was going to be much like the movie "Ghost," and that it would be good, but not overly amazing. I was so wrong. Not only did this movie make me cry for most of its duration, but it literally made me sob so hard that I was afraid of waking up the rest of my family is I cried in my bedroom at 11:45 at night. The film just hits so close to home. Time is the enemy of everyone. There's no going back, and there's no stopping it either. People pass, relationships end, romances form and then break apart. Nothing, at least in our physical world, ever stays the same. This movie beautifully illustrates this in a way that most American audiences don't seem to be understanding, which is why I am writing this review. This movie deserves so much more recognition that it currently has; especially on this site. While this is by no means an action-packed or on-the-edge-of-your-seat film, the pure amount of artistry and raw, unadulterated emotion found in it makes stand out in my mind as one of the best films I have ever seen. It's so simple. So astronomically simple; and that's what makes it so magical. Whether it be the haunting image of a wrecked car or the heavily-spoken about scene depicting a woman eating an entire pie for over five minutes, every single shot is filmed with so much emotion, it makes you want to pause the film and reflect on every minute the story has to offer. Everything has a purpose in this film. It all ties together in this beautiful, haunting tragedy mixed with a love song. I know I'm just a kid. Yes, I may be only seventeen. But I beg you, if the reviews for this film on this site are making you think twice about seeing this, just listen to what I have to say and watch it. No, it's not for everyone. If you're looking for a horror movie or a blood-splattered motion pic, skip this one over. But if you're deeper than that, and you actually want to experience something you won't forget, throw yourself into this one. It's sad to see that this beautiful masterpiece of American cinema is being so overlooked.

Imagine a joke that takes 90 minutes to tell, you never get to hear the actual punchline, and part of the point is how long and incredibly boring it is to get there - yet it makes sense at the end, and in some strange way seems fulfilling. If this sounds like your cuppa joe, you might like this flick. I'm glad I watched it, but wouldn't watch it again, and can't recommend it.

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