How is Casey Affleck following up winning an Academy Award for his performance in Manchester By the Sea? He’s going to spend most of his next movie under a sheet.
One of this year’s strangest films promises to be A Ghost Story, which is about a man who dies and continues to watch over his wife (Rooney Mara) in the house they used to live in together. But in his ghostly form, unseen by his wife, Affleck’s character is covered by a sheet with two eyeholes cut in it, like a cheapo Halloween costume. Is this a comedy? As ridiculous as this premise might sound, it is not. Is it a horror film? The imagery of a man with a sheet draped over him lurking around his wife is certainly creepy. But apparently, this isn’t meant to be a scary movie either.
Directed by David Lowery (Pete’s Dragon), A Ghost Story played at the recent Sundance Film Festival with marketing material and critics describing the film as an existential love story that explores many of the questions that we ponder about life. Will our loved ones still think about us and even be devoted to us after we’re gone? How will we be remembered? How will those we knew and loved move on without us?
If you think that all sounds a bit weird, well, check out the trailer for the film.
The framing for the trailer is certainly intriguing, resembling viewing a subject through a camera lens or Instagram filter. Hopefully, the entire film isn’t shot like that, but maybe the perspective of the ghost will have that view. Is that some sort of commentary about how we preserve memories and interact with each other these days, through the photos and videos we post to social media. So many of us often joke that something didn’t happen if there’s no picture of it. This is apparently how Affleck’s character sees what’s happening without him.
Affleck and Mara have good chemistry on screen, as they showed in a previous film with Lowery, 2013’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. Actually, that film depicted Mara’s character lonely and thinking about Affleck, this time while he was in prison. So Mara mooning over Affleck seems to be a theme in their collaborations with Lowery.
(Completely random thought that’s sure to be repeated in future posts: Will Rooney Mara ever play PJ Harvey in a movie? Because she looks like her younger sister. I know, she’s Kate Mara’s younger sister. Whatever.)
Based on the trailer, A Ghost Story appears to have compelling visuals, largely because of the strange imagery that the ghost creates. No matter where you put a man draped in a sheet, it should get your attention. But have that sheet trail behind him as he walks through a field of grass, and you have something that’s strangely powerful. The movie received good reviews coming out of Sundance, with several critics saying that they couldn’t stop thinking about what they watched afterwards, especially because of the questions being explored.
A Ghost Story is scheduled for a July 7 release. But it could be a film that plays first in bigger markets before making its way to other parts of the country. Maybe a ghost wearing a sheet will remind you when the movie is playing near you.
