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.
Drama 2017 92 mins
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.
infrequent strong language, images of dead bodiesAccessibility
Related
Drama
Nocturnal Nocturnal
Drama 2019 84 mins Director: Nathalie Biancheri
A teenage girl forms a mysterious relationship with an older man in this atmospheric debut from director Nathalie Biancheri.
Real Real
Romance 2019 78 mins Director: Aki Omoshaybi
Aki Omoshaybi’s earnest debut explores the love between two people who work hard to keep their romance on track while struggling to manage personal hardship.
Socrates Socrates
Drama 2018 71 mins Director: Alex Moratto
A teenage orphan is forced to grow up quickly in this captivating story of resilience in the face of hardship.
She Dies Tomorrow She Dies Tomorrow
Drama 2020 84 mins Director: Amy Seimetz
Amy knows she's going to die tomorrow and her fear is contagious.
Ava Ava
Drama 2017 103 mins Director: Sadaf Foroughi
Sadaf Foroughi's gripping debut about a young girl's coming-of-age in a strict, traditional society.
Perfect 10 Perfect 10
Drama 2019 84 mins Director: Eva Riley
An aspiring teen gymnast’s world is turned upside down with the arrival of the half-brother she never knew she had.
Sight & Sound's Best Films
Paterson Paterson
Comedy 2016 118 mins Director: Jim Jarmusch
Adam Driver excels in this effortlessly charming tale of a bus driver poet in New Jersey, filmed with typically groovy elan by Jim Jarmusch.
Toni Erdmann Toni Erdmann
Comedy 2016 162 mins Director: Maren Ade
A lonely prankster upends the life of his high-powered daughter in a riotous comedy, deep and sharp.
The Florida Project The Florida Project
Drama 2017 112 mins Director: Sean Baker
Tangerine director Sean Baker presents another visionary take on the wild ups and dangerous downs of life in America’s underbelly, featuring an Oscar-nominated turn from Willem Dafoe.
Zama Zama
Drama 2017 115 mins Director: Lucrecia Martel
Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel returns with a fine adaptation of Antonio Di Benedetto’s existential novel. In her first feature since 2008’s The Headless Woman, Martel creates a richly layered exploration of personal malaise.
Western Western
Drama 2017 121 mins Director: Valeska Grisebach
Masculine tensions reaching boiling point in this sizzling, brilliantly observed neo-western, where migrant German construction workers are pitched against villagers in remotest Bulgaria.
The Wild Pear Tree The Wild Pear Tree
Drama 2018 189 mins Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s follow-up to his Palme d’Or-winning Winter Sleep is a persuasive portrait of a young writer at odds with his hometown and family.
Featuring Casey Affleck
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.
Featuring Rooney Mara
Una Una
Drama 2016 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 2014 119 mins Director: Todd Haynes
Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara illuminate Todd Haynes’ intoxicating adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s beloved novel.
New
White Riot White Riot
Documentary 2019 81 mins Director: Rubika Shah
Revolution rock! Rubika Shah’s vital documentary profiles punky reggae protest movement Rock Against Racism, from grassroots beginnings through to a major multicultural event.
Nocturnal Nocturnal
Drama 2019 84 mins Director: Nathalie Biancheri
A teenage girl forms a mysterious relationship with an older man in this atmospheric debut from director Nathalie Biancheri.
The Painted Bird The Painted Bird
War 2019 169 mins Director: Vaclav Marhoul
Based on Jerzy Kosiński’s 1965 novel and a long time in the making, Václav Marhoul’s extraordinary The Painted Bird finds a lone Jewish boy on a dark odyssey towards home during wartime.
Real Real
Romance 2019 78 mins Director: Aki Omoshaybi
Aki Omoshaybi’s earnest debut explores the love between two people who work hard to keep their romance on track while struggling to manage personal hardship.
Power in Our Hands Power in Our Hands
Documentary 2015 75 mins Director: Angela Spielsinger
Ground-breaking documentary that uses archive film to tell the story of the British Deaf community’s fight for civil rights.
Socrates Socrates
Drama 2018 71 mins Director: Alex Moratto
A teenage orphan is forced to grow up quickly in this captivating story of resilience in the face of hardship.