A Ghost Story movie review & film summary (2017) | Roger Ebert (2024)

I rarely see a movie so original that I want to tell people to just see it without reading any reviews beforehand, including my own. David Lowery’s “A Ghost Story” is one of those movies. So I’m urging you in the first paragraph of this review to just see it and save this review for later. If you want more information, read on. There are no spoiler warnings after this because as far as I’m concerned, everything I could say about this film would constitute a spoiler.

This tale of a man who dies young and lingers around the property where he and his wife once lived is bound to be one of the most divisive films of the year. I didn’t know anything about it going in, except that its main character was a person who dies and spends the rest of the movie walking around mute, wearing a white sheet with eyeholes cut out of it. The film is a ghost story, in the sense that there’s a ghost in it, but it’s also many other things: a love story, a science fiction-inflected story about time travel and time loops, and a story about loneliness and denial, and the ephemeral nature of the flesh, and the anxiousness that comes from contemplating the end of consciousness (provided there’s no life after death—and what if there isn’t?).

The characters are so archetypal that they don’t have names, just initials. C (played by Casey Affleck) is a musician who lives with his wife M (Rooney Mara) in a small house surrounded by undeveloped property somewhere in the vast flatness of Texas. C dies in a car crash early in the story but continues to linger on as a ghost, silently observing his wife’s grief and her eventual exit from the home they once shared. He stays in the house as new tenants move in, including a single mother (Liz Franke) and her two children (Carlos Bermudez and Yasmina Guiterrez) and some young, single people who throw parties with lots of bohemian artist-types. Time keeps moving forward. At a certain point the house gets leveled and replaced by a gigantic luxury condo-hotel type of development. C stays rooted to the spot where he died, as if he’s stuck in the “denial” phase of the grieving process.

The movie’s two most fascinating formal traits are its decision to keep C under the sheet for much of the film’s running time, and the way it moves its story along with hard cuts rather than dissolves, fades-to-black, or other signifiers that a lot of time has passed. The sheet denies the film’s leading man most of the tools he’d normally use to communicate emotion. He must instead approach the character as if he were onstage in a play where gestures are more important than words, and try to convey surprise, sadness or anger by holding his head and shoulders in a particular way, or turning quickly instead of slowly to look at something.

But this opens up a different kind of relationship between character and viewer: we’re projecting ourselves onto C as we might as children playing with dolls or stuffed animals. Simple, powerful emotions can be summoned that way, and it’s those sorts of emotions that are this movie’s specialty. There were many stretches where I was reminded of European art cinema classics like “Stalker” and “The Passenger,” which derive much of their power from asking you to commit to staring at the images the film has put in front of you, and think about what they might mean and how you feel about them. There are other times when the film is reminiscent of “Groundhog Day,” in its ability to weave guilt, karma, and fear of change into a story that might otherwise have played as a light diversion.

The hard cuts that move us through the story convey the idea that C perceives time differently than we do. In a scene that involves decay, which I won’t describe in too much detail here because it occurs in a context I didn’t expect to encounter, a body becomes a skeleton in a series of cuts that last about 30 seconds. The deeper we get into C’s story, the more Lowery teases our perceptions of time, until by the end he’s got us questioning the idea of singular, linear experience. (“A Ghost Story” would make a great double feature with Shane Carruth’s “Primer” or Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood,” two other Texas films about the perception and experience of time.)

“A Ghost Story” feels bracingly, at times alienatingly new. It’s a movie you can’t be quite sure how to take. There are moments where the movie seems to be handing you keys to interpretation, but I’d caution viewers against looking at such scenes for answers, because they have a rope-a-dope quality—as if they’re designed to bait and trap those who would sneer at this kind of movie. In any event, this is a film that’s more inclined to ask questions than answer them, much less give life advice. A long monologue by a party guest (Will Oldham) about humanity’s doomed attempts to leave traces that last, especially through art, would seem to suggest that a song C writes for M will outlast him, but we have no evidence of that. The film’s presentation of ghosthood as a purgatorial in-between state, inhabited by individuals who refuse to let go of the life they can no longer have, jibes with many Western religions’ ideas about the afterlife, but I don’t think the resolution of C’s story gives us any hope of Heaven; to me it seemed more like a warning to be at peace with the possibility that we may never know the answers to the big questions.

I should admit here that any take I can offer is provisional. I need to see the film a second time to sweep away preconceived notions that might’ve been lingering in my mind during my first viewing of “A Ghost Story.” The movie is so simple in its storytelling and its situations are observed so patiently that the result has a disarming purity, as if Lowery jammed a tap into his subconscious and recorded one of his dreams directly to film. It’s probably the closest that a lot of people are going to get to seeing a late-period silent movie on a big screen—a melodrama that deals in big ideas and obvious symbols, and that puts across fantastical concepts, such a ghost haunting the landscape over a period of decades, by putting a sheet over its leading man and having him walk around slowly and stare blankly at stuff. (Cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo shoots the movie in the old-fashioned, square-ish “Academy” ratio, letting us see the rounded edges of the frame; this has a constricting effect, so that we seem to be spying through a keyhole at someone else’s life.)

People either seem to love “A Ghost Story” or hate it, with no in-between. It got mostly very positive notices during festival screenings, but on the eve of its commercial release I’ve found myself arguing with colleagues who think it’s the Emperor’s New Clothes and find it too precious, too sentimental, too much of a one-joke movie, or not enough of one thing or another thing. I loved everything about it, including the scenes I wasn’t sure how to take. I recommend seeing it in a theater because it’s a movie that has as much to say about our perception of time and permanence as it does about love and death. Much of the impact that it has, positive or negative, comes from having to sit there and watch it without interruptions and think about what it’s showing you, and how.

A Ghost Story movie review & film summary (2017) | Roger Ebert (2024)

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A Ghost Story movie review & film summary (2017) | Roger Ebert? ›

The film is a ghost story

a ghost story
A Ghost Story is a 2017 American supernatural drama film written and directed by David Lowery and starring Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, and Will Oldham. It is about a man who becomes a ghost and remains in the house he shared with his wife.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › A_Ghost_Story
, in the sense that there's a ghost in it, but it's also many other things: a love story, a science fiction-inflected story about time travel and time loops, and a story about loneliness and denial, and the ephemeral nature of the flesh, and the anxiousness that comes from contemplating the end ...

What is the story of A Ghost Story summary? ›

What was the point of the movie "A ghost Story"? ›

The Big Picture

David Lowery's A Ghost Story explores heavy themes of existentialism and loss across infinite time. The film follows a white-sheeted ghost haunting his wife and delves into the futility of human legacy. Through a time loop, the movie reflects on immortality through memories and legacy's enduring impact.

What is the theme of A Ghost Story? ›

The existential themes are obvious in A Ghost Story. The whole storyline is centered around a man who has passed but is personified as a ghost reflecting on his life and his role in the larger human narrative.

What is the movie Ghost Stories about? ›

What is a good summary for ghost? ›

Ghost tells the story of Castle Cranshaw, a troubled youth who is trying to cope with a traumatic childhood. When he joins the Defenders track team, he learns that he does not have to let his past define him. Castle lives in a poor neighborhood called Glass Manor. As the novel opens, he is angry and directionless.

What is the plot summary of ghosts? ›

Ghosts is a three-act play by Henrik Ibsen that deals with heavy and controversial subject matter including incest, assisted suicide, and sexually transmitted infection. The plot follows the Alving family as they confront the dark secrets that are embedded in their past and present.

What happened at the end of A Ghost Story? ›

At the end of the film, the ghost finally does retrieve his wife's note, and upon reading it, he is free of the time loop and immediately disappears. However, what's written down is never revealed to the audience.

What is the message of the movie ghost? ›

It assumes that even after death we devote most of our attention to unfinished business here on Earth, and that danger to a loved one is more important to a ghost than the infinity it now inhabits. Such ideas are a comfort to us.

Why is A Ghost Story so good? ›

"A Ghost Story" is a thought-provoking and quietly moving experience, reminding us that even in death, our presence can endure, and my liking for it is as enduring as the ghost's silent watch over time.

What are the key features of a ghost story? ›

Setting and atmosphere are very important in a ghost story. These convey a sense of 'spookiness' to the reader. Traditionally, the appearances of ghosts are marked with cold spots and drafts, mists and vapours, etc. The ghost is also tied to a particular place and can usually never leave the place.

What is the main problem in the story ghost? ›

The story is told from the perspective of 7th grader Castle Cranshaw (Ghost), who is struggling to cope after a traumatic incident of domestic violence.

What is the main idea in ghost? ›

A major theme of the book is facing one's fears. Coach confides to Castle how he also had to overcome tremendous obstacles. Ghost has to learn to reconcile with his traumatic past, face bullies, own up to his mistakes and his fear of failure on the track.

Is Ghost Stories 2017 based on a true story? ›

The exposing of the psychic at the beginning is based on a real event. Televangelist and supposed faith healer Peter Popoff was caught by skeptic and magician James Randi. Popoff would have people fill out prayer request cards before events.

What is the meaning of A Ghost Story? ›

ghost story, a tale about ghosts. More generally, the phrase may refer to a tale based on imagination rather than fact. Ghost stories exist in all kinds of literature, from folktales to religious works to modern horror stories, and in most cultures.

Is Ghost Stories 2017 worth watching? ›

Great acting, well shot and directed, with a very British sense of humour sprinkled throughout. Do not read too much about this movie, just go and experience it, I think you will find it scary, interesting and most of all worth your time.

What happened at the end of a ghost story? ›

At the end of the film, the ghost finally does retrieve his wife's note, and upon reading it, he is free of the time loop and immediately disappears. However, what's written down is never revealed to the audience.

What is the book ghost story about? ›

The story involves a writer named Donald "Don" Wanderley who goes to the town of Milburn in the upstate New York after the death of his uncle, finding out that the death is somehow related to the local Chowder Society and the "ghost stories" told in its inner circle.

What is the summary of the ghost story by Mark Twain? ›

Twain's ghost story begins like many other ghost stories: His narrator is alone in a dark room and he hears and sees odd phenomena that he begins to suspect are supernatural. While he does actually encounter a ghost, Twain uses this particular ghost to mock superstition and expose greed.

What is the full summary of the dilemma of a ghost? ›

Dilemma of a Ghost When Ato returns to Ghana from his studies in North America he brings with him a sophisticated black American wife. But their hopes of a happy marriage and of combining 'the sweetness and loveliest things in Africa and America' are soon shown to have been built on an unstable foundation.

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