SXSW ’26: Mallory’s Ghost is a Haunted House Flick By Way of an Ex-Lover
This review was originally posted on Film Obsessive.
The downfall of many a relationship comes at the hands of the ghost of an ex. This person doesn’t need to physically be in the same city or town to cause a relationship to hit a stumbling block, but the mere knowledge of their existence can send people’s imaginations spiraling to a dark place. Mallory’s Ghost, which will have its world premiere at the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival, is about jealousy and the many-headed creature this emotion conjures. Written, directed, edited by, and starring Arabella Oz, Mallory’s Ghost is a comedy about the Self and the weird ways we find our way back.
Ah, the coast of Maine. Where many a couple have found themselves in search of a little romance. Mallory (Oz) and Sam (Nick Canellakis, also co-editor) head to Maine for two reasons: one, to get away from the city, and two, for Sam’s playwriting retreat at the house of his old teacher (Delphi Harrington). Sam fails to mention that he’s been to this house before with his ex-girlfriend, Louise (Anjelica Bosboom), a glamorous actress who co-wrote the play that gave Sam some notoriety. With nothing to do in the secluded home, Mallory finds herself obsessing over a woman she never met.
Part of the reason Mallory is jealous of Louise is that she feels like Louise is Sam’s one-who-got-away. When Mallory presses Sam about how heartbroken, on a scale of 1–10, he was when they broke up, Sam rates his sadness as an 8.4. To Mallory, that’s crushing, but it’s not the only reason she’s envious of Louise. Mallory works at an office job she hates, but admits that there’s a part of her that longs to pursue a creative career. In many ways, she’s the opposite of Louise, and when the film begins, she sees that as a negative. As the film goes on, she sees these differences as a strength that are all her own.
In an empty Word document, Mallory types, “sitting inside someone else’s memory.” It’s how she feels about being in the place where Louise and Sam created some of their best memories, and also a foreshadowing of the strange, surrealist path Mallory’s Ghost takes halfway through the film. The narrative moves forward and backward through time, playing with the concept of ghosts, literally and figuratively, and their role in relationships. How they can inspire or dull a person’s life. Mallory believes that she’s haunted by the ghost of Louise in the house, but as the film progresses, it’s clear that this entity is someone else.
Credit: Jeff Griecci
Mallory’s Ghost is not a horror movie in the sense that the entity that follows Mallory doesn’t need to be exorcised by a religious figure, but it is a movie about a haunted house. Things and places within this coastal home belong to the memory of others. The cherry tree, the guest room, the kitchen — all these places belonged to Sam and someone else before Mallory stepped through those doors. Mallory has to figure out how to define herself as just the Self. Not as someone in relation to another person. What does she want? Who is she? The fact that she’s unable to answer these questions is the reason she’s so obsessive about Louise and Sam. To her, those are people who know themselves, know their passions and how to direct their lives to follow them.
Relationships are a funny thing. We see them as a source of enrichment, but far too often they’re drains on our own emotional sensibilities. Not every relationship is a good one, but all of them require communication to grow. Mallory’s Ghost is a reflection on how the connections between people have the ability to add or take away from understanding self-esteem without even realizing it. Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to recognize what’s missing in one’s own life.
As serious as Mallory’s Ghost sounds, it’s really quite jocular. The arguments between Sam and Mallory are serious, but the movie also recognizes that many of the fights in a relationship are inherently silly to an outsider. At the end of the day, it’s a movie that believes the freedom to create and the ability to understand oneself are intrinsically intertwined. Mallory’s Ghost is a movie built on fears, but one that sees the good that can come from facing them.
Follow me on BlueSky, Instagram, Letterboxd, TikTok, YouTube, & Facebook. Check out Movies with My Dad, a podcast recorded on the car ride home from the movies and I Think You’ll Hate This, a podcast hosted by two friends who rarely agree.
support your local film critic!
~
support your local film critic! ~
Beyond the Cinerama Dome is run by one perpetually tired film critic
and her anxious emotional support chihuahua named Frankie.
Your kind donation means Frankie doesn’t need to get a job…yet.