“Ghostlight” - Film Review
There is a magic that comes from making and being a part of the process of art. For all its reliance on inspiration and fluidity, the methodical effort that goes into creating art of all different mediums is what can provide healing. It’s this ineffable power of emotional transformation that is the lifeblood of Ghostlight, an independent darling that revels in the creation of something larger than itself. A celebration of the spirit of art for art’s sake. While Ghostlight doesn’t manage to capture a fully naturalistic sensibility, there’s more than enough warmth to make teh audience believe in getting outside of their comfort zone to heal their soul.
Dan (Keith Kupferer) works on a construction crew that is repaving part of a road on the town’s main street. He’s a quiet, old-fashioned guy by his own description. Dan’s married to Sharon (Tara Mallen), a schoolteacher, and they are the parents of Daisy (Katherine Mallen Kupferer), a teenage girl with more angst than she knows what to do with. When Ghostlight begins, it’s clear to the audience that this family is reeling from something, and the specifics are slowly revealed throughout the film’s runtime. They’re all hurting, but unable to communicate with one another or figure out how to process their feelings in a productive way. At least that’s the case until a woman from the local community theater, Rita (Dolly de Leon), encourages Dan to audition for the role of Lord Capulet in the theater’s production of Romeo and Juliet. As Dan becomes more involved in the play, he and his family begin to heal.
Courtesy of Luke Dyra. An IFC Films release.
The heart of Ghostlight is the performances from the three family members. They’re all actors in their own right, but together, they’re also a family in real life. Without knowing their life offscreen, the audience can feel the sense of comfort that exists among the three of them. They understand the way each one occupies space and how they communicate differently depending on who they’re talking to. How much of that comes from their real life and how much comes from writer (and co-director) Kelly O'Sullivan’s script is hard to say, but what matters is the inherent familiarity and cohesion that exists even when the family is being ripped apart at the seams.
The hurdle that’s difficult to overcome in Ghostlight is unfortunately the cornerstone of the film’s premise. Dan joins the community theater production because Rita sees him at the construction site and tells him to come to the table read. It’s the sort of circumstance that tips the film’s scales to just a little too heavy-handed to feel entirely natural. It goes against the deeply simple, subtle performances of the leads, especially Kupferer as Dan, and makes the overall character development feel just a bit too on-the-nose. Participating in a ragtag community theater production or singing karaoke in front of strangers can be deeply healing, and these moments of Ghostlight are the film’s most touching. It’s the larger, more obviously plot-development-oriented decisions that take the shine away from the film’s more earned moments.
Courtesy of Luke Dyra. An IFC Films release.
Ghostlight is a rallying cry for the importance of art. We first meet Dan as someone working on a loud construction site as “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'” from Oklahoma! plays in the background. The two are seemingly at odds with one another in our preconceived notions about the type of person we expect to listen to the song or to be a construction worker. Ghostlight shows us that these people are one and the same, and that peace comes from where we least expect it. We cannot know what art will have the deepest impact on our lives until it comes at us like a freight train. Often, it’s not about the art itself, but the creation of it. Ghostlight argues that it matters less if the art you make is good, and more that you go through the grueling process of making something from your own vulnerability.
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