A Ghost Story has a premise that could easily veer into irritating post-modern gimmickry. Yet, although a bit precious at times, this unusual drama possesses an earnest, bittersweet character. If, after a decade of painful Wes Anderson imitations, the worst label you could throw against an indie film is “quirky,” A Ghost Story transcends its twee trappings with a sense of genuine sorrow and unabashed romance.
Despite a high-powered leading pair, A Ghost Story displays a ballsy commitment to its arthouse idiosyncrasies. Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck are C and M, a young couple living in a modest Texas ranch. We never get much in the way of exposition about these characters or their relationship, but we can pick up bits and pieces from the film’s episodic, naturalistic narrative: M is a musician. C wants to move. They love each other, but their relationship seems to be entering that awful, prolonged pre-breakup stage.
Mild spoilers to follow, I suppose, but nothing that isn’t revealed by the poster or trailer (or even the film’s title, really). There is a tragic accident and M dies. Here’s where the aforementioned ballsy commitment starts to come into play: the rest of the story is told from M’s point of view, now a ghost, as he wanders around his former home. More specifically, a very simplistic, clipart-esque version of a ghost – just Casey Affleck under a white bed sheet.
As if this wasn’t ridiculous enough, M’s consciousness is a “time is a flat circle” type of deal, so we watch him meander him into the future, then hundreds of years into the past, only to arrive back at the present. Some of the vignettes he observes are momentous or traumatic, but quite a few are quiet and seemingly unremarkable. However, writer/director David Lowery has a knack for making the unremarkable remarkable.
It’s outrageous, and it shouldn’t work, but it does. A Ghost Story is both thematically and visually beautiful, thanks to Lowery’s lyrical writing and superb visual aesthetic. The direction is mesmerizing, employing long takes, painterly compositions, and meticulous set design. The film is so brazen, so audacious, that it feels like anything can happen – hell, just about everything does happen, including a Kesha cameo – which makes M’s metaphysical journey incredibly captivating. The meaning and poignance that Lowery and his cast transfer to quiet moments and small details give A Ghost Story a sublime power. For me, it felt the way other people say Terrence Malick’s films feel for them.
I could absolutely understand why someone might despite A Ghost Story, find it pretentious or silly or boring or an almost parodic combination of arthouse indie conventions. But, for every viewer it annoys or confounds, there will be others who find it to be an uncommonly emotional experience, people who respond to its tender vulnerability. Like some sort of experimental surgery, if A Ghost Story works for you, it’ll work wonders.
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