'A Ghost Story' REVIEW: A haunting, bleak and captivating supernatural drama film that explo

'A Ghost Story' is a supernatural drama directed by David Lowery, the director of films such as Pete's Dragon (2016) and Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013). It stars Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara as a rather ordinary husband and wife (Their characters are never actually named in the film). When I walked into this film I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I wanted to go see this film based on its premise as how surreal and different it is presented in the trailers. I definitely knew that it wasn't going to be a stereotypical horror film as the title might seem to tell you. It's a drama, but a rather great one.

The story of 'A Ghost Story' is a rather strange one. It's about a recently a deceased husband (played by Casey Affleck) who comes back as a ghost like the ones you see children wear every Halloween and returns to the home of his wife (played by Rooney Mara) to try to reconnect with her.

The first thing you're going to notice with this film (if you haven't seen the trailers) is that it is entirely filmed in a 4:3 aspect ratio with rounded corners like the ones you'd see in old home movies. The director clearly wanted to utilize this aspect ratio to surely tell a more personal story as if there was someone documenting the main characters life. It was unique and I was fine with it all the way. The performances of the two leads were great, however very minimal dialogue was given to them. It was as I thought it was going to be that it was a quiet film for most of it, but also a lot of somber and depressing music that really hits your guts. Where the film explores the themes of love and loss rests on its main lead who's mostly just covered in a sheet and doesn't speak like at all. Scenes where you'd see the ghost watching his wife eating a pie rapidly coming to a realization that her husband is gone is really heartbreaking. It may even brought a tear to my eye. The film also has some of the best editing and scene transitions I've seen in a relatively low budget film. The film would jump between time periods naturally and they don't feel abrupt. What I appreciate about this film overall is how it's simple, but complex in its storytelling. There's even a time-travel sequence that I didn't expect and was surprising to me.

Issues that I had experiencing this film is that there would be moments that I felt the film was lingering on a shot for way to long, except for scenes with actors interacting in them. I may have zoned out for just a few seconds, but something interesting would happen immediately.

Overall, this is a very unique supernatural film in premise and in execution about love and loss. It's slow pace and depressing feel may turn off audiences, but you'll feel uplifted by the end.

'A Ghost Story' gets an A-