Affleck and Rooney Mara play a married couple, identified only as "C" and "M" respectively. They live in a slightly tumbledown Texas ranch house to which he feels an odd devotion. He doesn't get to explain that in detail, however, since he quickly dies in an auto mishap just outside the home.
His corpse, left alone in the hospital, suddenly springs up and heads down a hallway where a tunnel of light beckons, then suddenly shuts off. So he hangs a left and walks (we surmise) back to his house.
There, he stands, mostly in corners, and watches life -- and his widow -- go on without him. Is he learning anything? Lowery isn't telling us.
The image of the dead still being near us will be comforting to many. The idea that they're standing in corners staring at us, albeit not trying to haunt us, probably less so.
Later, somewhat like Ebenezer Scrooge's Christmas Eve dream, Affleck's ghost journeys into the distant past of the property, and also into the near future, where he listens to a partygoer gas on about how life on earth means little, since we're all quickly forgotten, and not even love or works of art endure.
This is patently false, of course. But Lowery's not interested in building a mordant argument -- or any argument at all.
Eventually, Lowery gives his ghost a task. He needs to retrieve a note his widow stuck in a doorway crack. He's mostly just curious, but this document could also lead to a resolution of what amounts to his earthly exile.
Since Lowery doesn't try to supply any pat answers, he instead invites the audience to discover their own questions. The result falls a little short on the entertainment scale, but demands thoughtful interpretation by discerning adults.
The film contains brief gore and fleeting rough and crude language. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
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Jensen is a guest reviewer for Catholic News Service.
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CAPSULE REVIEW
"A Ghost Story" (A24)
Casey Affleck's recently deceased, silently querulous and shrouded spirit, looking like one of Charlie Brown's trick-or-treaters with cut-out eyeholes, returns to stare at, though not haunt, his widow (Rooney Mara). Eventually, he needs to fulfill a task in order to set things right with someone or something and thus be released from his earthly bonds. Writer-director David Lowery hasn't attempted a story about religion specifically or spirituality generally. Rather, he has made a reflection on loss. Visually fascinating, this falls a little short on the entertainment scale, but it demands thoughtful interpretation by discerning adults. Brief gore, fleeting rough and crude language. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
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CLASSIFICATION
"A Ghost Story" (A24) -- Catholic News Service classification, A-III -- adults. Motion Picture Association of America rating, R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
