Directed By Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson

Starring – Keith Kupferer, Katherin Mallen Kupferer, Tara Mallen

The Plot – When a construction worker (Keith Kupferer) unexpectedly joins a local theater’s production of Romeo and Juliet, the drama onstage starts to mirror his own life.

Rated R for adult language

Ghostlight – Official Trailer | HD | IFC Films (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

There have been plenty of films sampling Romeo and Juliet, as well as emulating the realities of stage show productions, but when combined in ‘Ghostlight’ they help to conjure something insightfully original to their respective concepts, all the while enabling a compelling drama that effortlessly breeds humanity, as a result of O’Sullivan and Thompson’s gracefully understated direction. This means a lot to the integrity of the film, but primarily that instead of the loud and long-winded diatribes that we’ve come to expect from heavyweight dramas, it instead uses its time to candidly dissect psychological grief and rehabilitation, with the production of this theater serving as the catalyst for therapeutic healing in Dan’s life that he otherwise tightly compresses inside. This obviously appraises a rich appreciation for the stage that some films outline in obviously meandering dialogue, but here it’s the examples in imagery and bond between its characters that provided the deepest sense of connection, with something as simple as a comforting hug or a look speaking the loudest example of the soulful language that spiritually binds each of us. For the inside baseball of productions, it’s not only easy to follow and comprehend, but also echoing in relevance for the kind of unforeseen obstacles that these small productions face in even attempting to put on a single solitary show, with a deep sense of commitment to community that proves anything capable when everyone cohesively works together to produce something great. In the case of Dan and his ailing heart, the desire to portray someone else entirely requires empathetic willingness to interpret things from their dreaded disposition, and with the idea of art imitating life with the suicide of the play mirroring the darkness that has plagued his family, the fictional material carries with it a far deeper sense of spiritual connection to what is being asked of him, with an overarching urgency and vulnerability to his psychological duress that feels like it could snap at any minute. As can be predicted, it eventually materialize, but without the fiery intensity or passionate registry that can be expected of a man bearing his soul, in turn speaking volumes about the value and meaning of his newfound hobby, especially since everything and everyone else in his life is at crossroads, as a result of his own unconfronted grief. Surprisingly, the film has an ample amount of effective humor that keeps a majority of the experience feeling lighthearted and relatable, and despite the appeal and freedom of the R-rating opening the material up to anything, the gags themselves pertain to everything from expressive humility to group dynamic quirkiness among the many colorful characters, keeping the material every bit as nuanced and spontaneous as the dialogue, but without any of the compromising in tonal consistency that could otherwise obliterate the intentions of its subtlety. Doing so would easily make this a comedy-first kind of experience, but instead the humor underlines much of the dramatic muscle as a naturalistic method mimicking life’s many sporadic inflections, constructing many compartmentalized dynamics under this show that was a constant delight to experience, especially those involving Tommy Rivera-Vega’s Lucian, whose continuous gag for having his role taken by another newly-joining actor constantly brought a smile to my face that served the material exceptionally. On the subject of those performances, the rare-but-remarkable idea to use a real life family (Father, Mother and daughter) in the three primary roles goes a long way in breeding authenticity to the integrity of their respective portrayals, with father and daughter garnering such a lived in pathos to their constructs. For Keith, it’s a tenderness and emotional frailty that leaves him feeling like a shell of his former self. Not necessarily bothered by the existence of others, but disconnected from reality in ways that involuntarily force him to stand out in any room that he graces, all capped off by an enthralling deconstruction of his own guarded reality that makes for a tensely riveting courtroom deposition sequence, among my very favorite of the entire film. As for the youthful Kupferer, Katherin initial interactions are a bit stiff and full of raw remorselessness, but as the script includes her more consistently within an opportunistic second half, she opens up the diaphragm of her character in ways that connect her evolving maturity with the empathy that she grows to feel for others, establishing her as a mouthpiece for the script’s narratives and lessons, as a result of her reintroduction back into the stage world. Lastly, while the reserved direction by the dazzling duo of O’ Sullivan and Thompson keeps the film free from artistic flourishes, the breezily fluffy score from Quinn Tsan does leave a lasting impression, imbedding a profound sense of pureness and sincerity to the many complex emotions and themes that the film constantly juggles. Most importantly, the editing keeps the compositions far from the integrity of each vital scene, allowing the emotions of the actors to do the talking, and instead serving as the audible exclamation point to the interpretations of what follows, with a dominance of piano keys that fuel the foray.

NEGATIVES

It’s certainly expected that understated direction will result in certain scenes playing out without more of an emotional undertow, but when that pertains to an underwhelming climax, it leaves the film feeling like it ends on a whisper instead of a bang, in turn undercutting the magnitude of the evolution that most characters take on their journey. That isn’t to say that the film’s final moments are a total bummer, as the film capably conveys what was creatively intended, it’s just that it falls so unceremoniously flat in a scene that should hit a lot harder on the emotionality, removing a bit of the wind of momentum in a film that was built up terrifically, until those final moments nearly let all of it slip away in one forgettable execution. On top of an underwhelming climax, certain subplots feel drastically rushed while others feel meticulously developed, creating a bit of a tug-of-war to the pacing that forces the film to feel every inch of its 110 minute run time. To be fair, less than two hours is the ideal time frame for movies of this caliber, but because the film spends so much time developing the arcs within the stage show, and so little time further fleshing out the troublesome dynamics at home, it leaves the creativity of the script working overtime to vividly articulate the tortured pasts of its characters, resulting in an exposition-heavy third act that clears many hurdles of subtlety while trying to catch us up to the realities of just what happened to Dan’s son and his son’s girlfriend. Finally, the film does fall a bit into predictable waters, with everything that I expected to materialize in the film eventually coming to fruition in the extent of its journey. While I can understand that there are only so many directions that these characters can go under their conflicts, I found the ending sewed up a bit too clean and convenient for the magnitude of what each of them are facing, resulting in a tragic underscoring to the magnitudes of grief and psychological trauma that feel a bit too easily resolved to feel legitimate.

OVERALL
‘Ghostlight’ benefits from an honestly empathetic approach to psychological grief that makes this such a sweetly inspired meditation on emotional salvation, despite an understated execution in direction that occasionally drains the film of magnitude and meaning. With an unfamiliar group of actors eliciting painfully genuine performances, the film is able to evade the fictional encompassing of cinema for a sublime and mesmerizing portrait of human resiliency, with a universal language geared towards genuineness and self-forgiveness that will involve closure for some, and tears for most.

My Grade: 7/10 or B-