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.
infrequent strong language, images of dead bodiesRelated
Small Things Like These Small Things Like These
Drama 2024 99 mins
Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy delivers a stunning performance as a coal merchant who discovers horrific secrets about his local convent.
Only the River Flows Only the River Flows
Crime 2023 102 mins Director: Shujun Wei
Shujun Wei's slow-burn noir draws us inexorably into its mysterious psychological journey.
The Critic The Critic
Period drama 2023 101 mins Director: Anand Tucker
Ian McKellen is in delicious form as London's most vicious critic, who strikes a Faustian pact with a struggling actor (Gemma Arterton).
Special People Special People
Comedy 2008 74 mins Director: Justin Edgar
Justin Edgar's pioneering feature comedy about a neurotic filmmaker enlisted to make a film with a class of wheelchair-users.
The Goldman Case The Goldman Case
Drama 2023 116 mins Director: Cédric Kahn
Gripping courtroom drama based on the explosive 1976 murder trial of French political activist, Pierre Goldman.
In Camera In Camera
Drama 2024 95 mins Director: Naqqash Khalid
A struggling actor faces relentless knockbacks in Naqqash Khalid’s sharp-witted comment on race and identity in the film industry.
National Gallery National Gallery
Documentary 2014 181 mins Director: Frederick Wiseman
The inner workings of London’s National Gallery are laid bare in this absorbing, forensic examination by revered filmmaker Frederick Wiseman.
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.
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.
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.
Small Things Like These Small Things Like These
Drama 2024 99 mins
Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy delivers a stunning performance as a coal merchant who discovers horrific secrets about his local convent.
Only the River Flows Only the River Flows
Crime 2023 102 mins Director: Shujun Wei
Shujun Wei's slow-burn noir draws us inexorably into its mysterious psychological journey.
The Critic The Critic
Period drama 2023 101 mins Director: Anand Tucker
Ian McKellen is in delicious form as London's most vicious critic, who strikes a Faustian pact with a struggling actor (Gemma Arterton).
Special People Special People
Comedy 2008 74 mins Director: Justin Edgar
Justin Edgar's pioneering feature comedy about a neurotic filmmaker enlisted to make a film with a class of wheelchair-users.
Timestalker Timestalker
Comedy 2024 89 mins Director: Alice Lowe
What if unrequited love spanned the centuries? Alice Lowe's time-jumping fantasy rom-com is a colourful, darkly funny treat.
South: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Glorious Epic of the Antarctic South: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Glorious Epic of the Antarctic
Documentary 1919 81 mins Silent Director: Frank Hurley
An extraordinary story of survival in the wastes of Antarctica.