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Ghostlight (2024)

Ghostlight (2024)

Art heals in this illuminating film about loss, family, and hope

8.5

Movie

United States of America
English
Comedy, Drama
2024
ALEX THOMPSON, FEMALE DIRECTOR
Alma Washington, Bradley Grant Smith, Charin Alvarez
115 min

TLDR

You’ll either be grinning from ear to ear or wiping away tears watching this, there’s no in between.

What it's about

When construction worker Dan (Keith Kupferer) is pulled in to play Romeo in a community theater play, he slowly learns to accept a recent tragedy that’s shaken his entire family.

The take

“The healing power of art” sounds cheesy, but it’s a statement made beautiful and true in Ghostlight. It’s the sensitively told and wonderfully performed story of an ordinary man who, up until this point, doesn’t even know how Romeo and Juliet ends. That’s how detached he is from art. But when Rita (Dolly de Leon) pushes him into the arena, he surprises himself and his family by being receptive to it. It’s the only way he can get in touch with his feelings, which is vital since he’s gone through an unspeakable loss recently. What that loss is isn’t immediately revealed in the film, but the small details snowball and eventually pummel you to the ground with its sheer tragedy. You’re either grinning or crying watching this, there’s no in-between. But if there were, you’d probably be marveling at the trio at the heart of this film: the family played by a real-life family. Keith Kupferer, who plays Dan, Tara Mallen, who plays Sharon, and Katherine Mallen Kupferer, who plays their daughter Daisy, are all compelling and dazzling in their own ways.

What stands out

There are plenty I’d like to mention, but I’m putting my money on Mallen-Kupferer. It’s her intense performance that’ll be remembered long after the years have gone.

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