Plot Summary

A GHOST STORY is a singular exploration of legacy, loss, and the human longing for meaning and connection. Recently deceased, a white-sheeted ghost (Casey Affleck) returns to his suburban home to console his bereft wife (Rooney Mara), only to find that in his spectral state he can only watch passively as the life he knew and the woman he loves slowly slip away. Increasingly unmoored, he embarks on a cosmic journey through memory and history, facing life’s ineffable questions and the unbounded enormity of existence. A powerful meditation on love and grief, A GHOST STORY is surreal and deeply humbling – a unique tale that lingers long after the credits roll.

Memorable Lines

Ghost 2: Hello.
Ghost 1: Hi.
Ghost 2: I’m waiting for someone.
Ghost 1: Who?
Ghost 2: I don’t remember.

****

Houseguest: We build our legacy piece by piece and maybe the whole world will remember you or maybe just a couple of people, but you do what you can to make sure you’re still around after you’re gone.

****

M: When I was little and we used to move all the time, I’d write these notes and I would fold them up really small. And I would hide them.
C: What’d they say?
M: They’re just things I wanted to remember so that if I ever wanted to go back, there’d be a piece of me there waiting.

****

C: What is it you like about this house so much?
M: History.

****

Thoughts from the HauntedHouses.com team

Lowery’s film has a quiet, heartbreaking quality to it. There’s little dialogue in the film, so there are no moments of emotional speeches or exposition. In many regards, A Ghost Story is practically a silent film shot in the classic 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Lowery isn’t afraid to linger on moments, such as a dejected M sitting on the kitchen floor slowly eating a pie in the midst of her grief. It may frustrate some viewers that the film languishes on these moments, but therein lies the emotional weight of the story – a collision of time and grief. The purely visual storytelling and the haunting musical score Daniel Hart create this unsettling and tragic sense of helplessness to the passage of time and the changes that result because the world keeps spinning after we’ve passed away.

The Blu-ray for A Ghost Story features audio commentary from writer-director David Lowery. Also included on the Blu-ray are a couple of featurettes that examine A Ghost Story from a few different angles. One featurette focuses on the film’s score by Daniel Hart, and the composer explains how his work informed Casey Affleck’s character. The other featurette is shot using night vision and has Lowery surrounded by members of the crew of A Ghost Story and each provide their own insight onto their contribution to the finished film. Finally, there’s a lone deleted scene.

A Ghost Story isn’t a crowd-pleaser by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a thoughtful and haunting work of filmmaking that attempts to tell a different kind of tale of the afterlife. I won’t fault anyone for not caring for David Lowery’s tale of time and grief, but for those willing to go along with what the writer-director is attempting will be engrossed as this ghost moves silently through time. Love and loss are at the heart of A Ghost Story and the film takes an unconventional path to examine these topic through the eyes of a floating spirit.

VISIT GREAT HAUNTED HOTELS