I closely follow the works of the production studio A24. It's a studio I trust to help create awareness of films that are iconic; groundbreaking; riddled with dedication; genuine art. Their portfolio contains some of my favourite films within the last few years: Moonlight, Ex Machina, Swiss Army Man, The Witch, It Comes At Night, and now A Ghost Story.
I had heard of A Ghost Story back when it was getting a little marketing before its release, although I never really checked out the trailers, cast, or anything more than its base story. I didn't read any reviews once it came out, and I am certain that it made the experience that much better, having gone in almost blind. This is going to be a tough one...
A Ghost Story is filmed in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio; a small box that's more portrait than widescreen 16:9. It holds a more compact viewing experience, with less being more coming into play. Its budget was a tiny $100k, which is never evident throughout the film. It's incredibly impressive to look back at what was achieved with such a small amount of money.
With very little dialogue throughout the film, it focuses on visual storytelling: C (Casey Affleck) is killed outside of the house of his and his lover's in a car accident. Waking up as a ghost, he isn't ready to pass into the light, and returns from the hospital to their house, and he simply watches time go by. He watches as the love of his life struggles to continue; as she decides to finally attempt to move on and move out, leaving his ghost behind at the house that he loved. But not before leaving a small note within a crack in the wall. Outside of flashbacks, this is the last we see of M (Rooney Mara) in the film.
New residents come and go, and he tampers with their belongings out of anger and fear of intrusion. This is his house. He isn't letting go. He's clinging to the past, and desperate to get to that small note in the wall. As he scratches away as time passes and things change around him, he never seems to get closer to the note. His existence is simply a flash of light throughout time; everything passes by so quickly.
For the most part, we see C's ghost just observing. Watching, haunting, refusing to pass on. He's refusing to go on without M; and stays at the house's location as it's demolished, replaced by offices and eventually part of a futuristic city, just waiting for M to arrive; she doesn't.
After continuous lifetimes, as C is stuck in a loop, he finally obtains the note, which results in his immediate disappearance; he's accepted his fate. He's passing on. It's such a simple ending, but it's so heartwarming to see. We never find out what was on the note--Rooney Mara actually wrote something personal on that note for when the house is demolished, but even she claims to have forgotten what it said--but we know that C is finally content. We've watched him linger in the background for generations as time went on without him, almost in silence, just letting the beautiful cinematography take us along the ride.
