A Ghost Story

2017 • 92 minutes
3.6
369 reviews
91%
Tomatometer
R
Rating
Eligible
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About this movie

With A Ghost Story, acclaimed director David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Pete’s Dragon) returns with a singular exploration of legacy, loss, and the essential human longing for meaning and connection. Recently deceased, a white-sheeted ghost(Academy Award-winner Casey Affleck) returns to his suburban home to console his bereft wife (Academy Award-nominee Rooney Mara), only to find that in his spectral state he has become unstuck in time, forced to watch passively as the life he knew and the woman he loves slowly slip away. Increasingly unmoored, the ghost embarks on a cosmic journey through memory and history, confronting life’s ineffable questions and the enormity of existence. An unforgettable meditation on love and grief, A Ghost Story emerges ecstatic and surreal—a wholly-unique experience that lingers long after the credits roll.
Rating
R

Ratings and reviews

3.6
369 reviews
Charles Mathenia
October 4, 2017
• A Ghost Story captures its melancholic story perfectly within it's cinematography, script, and as well in it's own confines of dialogue. That's not to say the dialogue (or lack thereof) is bad and/or hurts the film in any way, because it doesn't. It helps it. Some may find this movie boring or slow, but if you truly understand the weight and surrealism of this film, then it's pace and imagery should have little-to-no effect on you. From it's mesmerizing scenery and cinematography, to it's unbelievably realistic take on a modern day relationship and how the concept of love is simply that, a concept, we see all the things no other story shows when dealing with such a topic as the afterlife. • The film's comically appealing, though also haunting sheet of disdain and heartache, Casey Affleck, delivers a transcendent performance (even if he's just walking around). It's the emotion you "see" behind those infinitely deep black holes for eyes that take his performance to a whole new level. • People say true love lasts forever, but in this movie, not only to we get a sense that that is true, but we rest on the idea that love is truly either a man made fallacy or just a comic emotional emission we can't help but endure, and that memories only mean so much after so long to the people who have nothing left to do but reflect on them. • With it's breathtaking grasp on the metaphysically surreal and the exact things we like to watch about, but hope not to be so painstakingly true, A Ghost Story provides you with more questions than answers (a good thing in this case), and if it's extremely heartbreaking take on the fallacies of love and the grief that no only the ones who lost, but those who became lost endure, this mesmerizing piece of cinema will surely haunt you in the best way imaginable.
50 people found this review helpful
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Matt On The Mat
December 3, 2017
When I first started watching this movie I thought, " Oh my God this has got to be the worse movie ever, sorry I wasted my money ". I was ready to call it quits about 20 minutes in, however, I gave it a chance because of some of the great reviews, I even shut it off completely after about 40 minutes. A few hours later I thought I'd give this movie one last chance. I am so glad I did. This movie is quite good, it really makes you think. I'll admit I was discouraged in the beginning because of how slow and quite frankly, BORING it was, however, all and all this turned out to be a great movie.
16 people found this review helpful
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Fabian S
September 20, 2020
I have no idea what people like about this movie. The most exciting part is a 10-minute scene of somebody eating a whole pie. The closest you get to some content is a shallow monologue about death and meaninglessness delivered by a drunk guy, which could have been written by a teenager. The cinematography is not particularly good, and the movie fails at being beautiful, contemplative, poetic, or any other buzzword you have read in critics' reviews. A lost opportunity, because the core idea is interesting.
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