A Ghost Story (2017)
80%RT Audience Score: 66%
Awards & Nominations: 11 wins & 21 nominations
A Ghost Story deftly manages its ambitious themes through an inventive, artful, and ultimately poignant exploration of love and loss
A Ghost Story is a film that will make you feel like you’re watching paint dry, but in a good way. It’s slow, it’s deliberate, and it’s hauntingly beautiful. Sure, some people might walk out of the theater, but those who stick around will be rewarded with a profound meditation on loss and the passage of time. And let’s not forget about Casey Affleck’s performance, which is so good that he manages to convey emotion even while wearing a sheet over his head. Overall, A Ghost Story is a must-see for anyone who’s looking for a film that’s both unconventional and deeply moving.
Production Company(ies)
Evergreen Pictures, Candescent Films, Artemis Rising Foundation
Distributor
A24
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Irving, Texas, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for brief language and a disturbing image
Year of Release
2017
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.33 : 1
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Runtime:1h 30m
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Language(s):English, Spanish
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jul 7, 2017 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 3, 2017
Genre(s)
Drama/Fantasy
Keyword(s)
starring Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, Kenneisha Thompson, Grover Coulson, Liz Cardenas, Barlow Jacobs, directed by David Lowery, written by David Lowery, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, $1.6M box office, R MPAA rating, reviewed by Ben Sachs, Kristen Lopez, Chris Barton, Roger Clarke, Bob Mondello, Donald Clarke, Fletcher Powell, Brian Eggert, Jason Adams, Matt Brunson, Travis Johnson, Alex Flood, loss, love, eternity, connection, grief, artful, poignant, inventive, unconventional, narrative structure, abstract, emotional, visual storytelling, rounded full frame aspect ratio, muted color palette, slow-paced, melancholy, devastatingly sad, memory, loneliness, longing, unique aesthetic
Worldwide gross: $1,951,683
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $2,354,190
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,367
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 256,727
US/Canada gross: $1,596,371
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,925,600
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,045
US/Canada opening weekend: $104,030
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $125,485
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,853
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $100,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $120,624
Production budget ranking: 2,141
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $64,956
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $2,168,611
ROI to date (est.): 1,169%
ROI ranking: 102
Rooney Mara – M
Kenneisha Thompson – Doctor
Grover Coulson – Man in Wheelchair
Liz Cardenas – Linda
Barlow Jacobs – Gentleman Caller
Director(s)
David Lowery
Writer(s)
David Lowery
Producer(s)
Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston, Adam Donaghey
Film Festivals
Sundance
Awards & Nominations
11 wins & 21 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (283) | Top Critics (68) | Fresh (256) | Rotten (27)
The unconventional narrative structure seems more beguiling the more you think about it – this is a film designed to expand in your memory.
March 26, 2020
Ben Sachs
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Slow and baffling at times, A Ghost Story follows you, not unlike the undead spirit within its frame.
November 20, 2017
Kristen Lopez
Culturess
TOP CRITIC
The film stubbornly refuses to connect with its deeper themes because of a vague, self-consciously arty structure and a pace so deliberate it approaches a stand-still.
October 21, 2017
Chris Barton
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
This is a film not so much about spooks as about deadly loss and the disorientation it brings.
September 4, 2017
Roger Clarke
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
A meditation on loss but also on legacy – on our enduring need to endure.
August 17, 2017
Bob Mondello
NPR
TOP CRITIC
We end up with a film that, for all its playfulness, connects plainly with the emotions.
August 15, 2017 | Rating: 5/5
Donald Clarke
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
Four people walked out of the screening I attended of A Ghost Story. I found it to be a profoundly beautiful and sad story of loss and the passage of time, of impermanence and change.
June 21, 2022
Fletcher Powell
KMUW – Wichita Public Radio
While the film proves to be an ambitious and inventive approach to the usual ghost story tropes, Lowery over-explains the more abstract ideas and underemphasizes the emotional ones, leaving his film admirable, if disappointingly empty.
March 23, 2022 | Rating: 2.5/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
It just aches with loss. There are these edits that allow for the immediate unyielding passage of time, that show the world disappearing in the blink of an eye, that moved me
January 14, 2022
Jason Adams
My New Plaid Pants
Moving at the speed of molasses trying to drip UP a wall, the movie clocks in at just over 90 minutes, yet many fidgety viewers will swear it runs at least four hours. Yet for those who can get attuned to its leisurely approach, it’s a fascinating watch.
August 10, 2021 | Rating: 3/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
A limp, intellectually lazy, leaden load of grief-posturing… a hollow thing that wears sorrow as a fashion accessory in the hopes that it makes it look mysterious.
July 27, 2021
Travis Johnson
Celluloid and Whiskey
What’s unique about Affleck’s performance is that he gives it almost entirely from beneath a flowing, white sheet. It’s method acting at its finest.
May 18, 2021
Alex Flood
NME…
Plot
Resonating with vibrant memories and silent echoes of a shared life, the old house is somehow connected to “C”, a sensitive composer who is hesitant of leaving it, while his loving wife “M”, on the other hand, is keen on moving out, having an indecipherable but grim premonition of danger. Sadly, disaster soon strikes, and C’s untethered spectre which detaches from the lifeless body, rises from the mortician’s table, and in a swift decision, decides to linger in this dimension to faithfully follow the grieving M back to the old house. As silent as a shadow and as invisible as the air, C’s unappeasable phantom observes M’s denial and depression gradually turn to acceptance and even hope, as time unravels, moving forward through the decades. In this earth, man struggles to leave his legacy behind. Is this the way to immortality?
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Casey Affleck gives a mostly silent performance, acting entirely from beneath a white sheet.
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