This film is part of Rentals
A Ghost Story
David Lowery's haunting exploration of love and loss, with Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck is a high-point of recent independent American cinema.
Director: David Lowery
Overview
David Lowery's (Ain't Them Bodies Saints) haunting exploration of love and loss, winner of numerous festival prizes since its debut at Sundance 2017, is one of the most distinctive films to emerge from recent independent American cinema. Casey Affleck plays a sheet-shrouded spectre, fated to watch his widow (Rooney Mara) as she tentatively begins a new life without him. As his new existence as a detached observer becomes increasingly fruitless, he strives to find a way to connect with his former life, or somehow move on.
Lowery's poignant drama draws upon haunting traditions from well beyond American shores, such as Japanese ghost tales and the animal spirits of Apichatpong Weerasethakul, but terror is not the director's intention - this is in no way a horror film. Similarly, while Lowery's general air of strangeness recalls experimental works like Sergio Caballero's Finisterrae, the film's high-calibre stars bring an accessibility to this simple and affecting story. And Casey Affleck's performance, mostly enacted from underneath a white sheet with eye-holes, is one of the most unusual you'll ever see from a major Hollywood star. The film is displayed in a 4:3 aspect ratio.
Related
Plainclothes Plainclothes
Drama 2025 97 mins Director: Carmen Emmi
Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey lead a Sundance-prize winning ensemble in this knockout cruising drama from debut director Carmen Emmi.
Young Hearts Young Hearts
Drama 2024 99 mins Director: Anthony Schatteman
A gentle and sincere story of queer love between two young teenage boys, told with warmth and humour.
Solo Solo
Drama 2025 102 mins Director: Sophie Dupuis
Emerging drag queen Simon begins a passionate, yet destructive relationship with an alluring new man, as his mother re-enters his life after 15 years
Christy Christy
Drama 2025 95 mins Director: Brendan Canty
Deeply moving portrait of a young man thrown out of his foster home, trying for a new start after moving in with his estranged brother in Cork.
A Night Like This A Night Like This
Drama 2025 101 mins Director: Liam Calvert
Two seemingly mismatched men form an unexpected connection over the course of one cold London night, in this warm-hearted debut from Liam Calvert.
Paul & Paulette Take a Bath Paul & Paulette Take a Bath
Drama 2024 109 mins Director: Jethro Massey
This unconventional romantic comedy sees a young American in Paris meet a woman with a morbid curiosity for the darker sides of the city's history.
I Am Not Your Negro I Am Not Your Negro
Documentary 2016 94 mins Director: Raoul Peck
Raoul Peck’s penetrating and acclaimed documentary reconstructs an unfinished manuscript by James Baldwin, chronicler of America’s Civil Rights Movement.
Silence Silence
Drama 2017 161 mins Director: Martin Scorsese
Scorsese’s epic meditation on spiritual strength, with Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as missionaries on the search for their missing mentor.
The Personal History of David Copperfield The Personal History of David Copperfield
Drama 2019 120 mins Director: Armando Iannucci
Armando Iannucci brings David Copperfield fizzing to life with all-star collaborators in this exuberant, entertaining and sharply pertinent adaptation.
Relic Relic
Horror 2020 90 mins Director: Natalie Erika James
Three generations of women are plagued by a supernatural presence in one of the year’s most terrifying films.
Possessor Possessor
Horror 2020 104 mins Director: Brandon Cronenberg
In the near future, a cool and ruthless assassin who uses other people’s bodies to carry out execution-style killings comes unstuck when her latest vehicle resists.
Collective Collective
Documentary 2019 109 mins Director: Alexander Nanau
When burn patients begin dying from non-life-threatening injuries a group of investigative journalists uncover a vast healthcare scandal, in this gripping Romanian documentary.
Triple 9 Triple 9
Crime 2015 115 mins Director: John Hillcoat
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Kate Winslet and Woody Harrelson make up the heavyweight cast for John Hillcoat’s (The Proposition) stunning heist thriller.
Manchester by the Sea Manchester by the Sea
Drama 2016 137 mins Director: Kenneth Lonergan
Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams shine in this devastating, Oscar-winning drama from Kenneth Lonergan about a man’s painful hometown return.
La Cocina La Cocina
Drama 2024 139 mins Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios
Tensions rise in a frenzied New York diner, in this loose reworking of Arnold Wesker’s 1957 play.
Una Una
Drama 2017 94 mins Director: Benedict Andrews
Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn star in a brilliantly unsettling exploration of a dark and deeply destructive relationship.
Carol Carol
Drama 2015 119 mins Director: Todd Haynes
Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara illuminate Todd Haynes’ intoxicating adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s beloved novel.
Ghost Trail Ghost Trail
Thriller 2024 106 mins Director: Jonathan Millet
Tense, morally complex political thriller about a man hunting down fugitive war criminals from the Assad regime in Syria, inspired by true events.
Plainclothes Plainclothes
Drama 2025 97 mins Director: Carmen Emmi
Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey lead a Sundance-prize winning ensemble in this knockout cruising drama from debut director Carmen Emmi.
What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day? What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day?
Documentary 2005 45 mins Director: Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly’s second collaboration with pop band Saint Etienne traces the hidden history of East London’s Lower Lea Valley before its Olympic makeover.
Young Hearts Young Hearts
Drama 2024 99 mins Director: Anthony Schatteman
A gentle and sincere story of queer love between two young teenage boys, told with warmth and humour.
Finisterre Finisterre
Documentary 2003 59 mins Director: Kieran Evans and Paul Kelly
A journey from London’s suburbs to its heart, charting the influence of the city on indie pop band Saint Etienne.
This Is Tomorrow This Is Tomorrow
2007 54 mins Director: Paul Kelly
The final part of Saint Etienne and Paul Kelly’s London trilogy follows the renovation and reopening of the Royal Festival Hall through 2005-7.