River of Ghosts has a misleading title that will certainly disappoint horror fans, because as you watch the film, you will find that it's not a horror but something psychological and deeper. Jules East's quirky way of telling the story brings in one by one of unexpected elements, a mythical creature that comes out of the river, a tornado in the house and a ghost? Just to lead us through an otherwise plain plot- a murder by the river out of an affair. Conner Floyd's acting leaves much room to bring out the melancholy and contemplative hypnosis doctor at first, however, by taking matters into his own hands, surprisingly he helps to unearth and solve the case. The idea of hypnosis to bring Brian back to what has happened by the river weaves well with the method of showing a reverse flow of the river back to where the incident happened that day by the riverbank. A memory that is too painful to bear for Brian, hence it keeps haunting him due to his attempt to suppress it. By hypnosis, going back against the flowing river, Dr. Halton forces Brian to remember what happened that day, unfortunately that didn't work, instead, Dr. Halton found the truth through the hypnosis of another guy in town, Larry, a city auditor, who had an affair behind his wife's back. River of Ghosts is a highly unexpected film, as it will go against your expectation and anticipation. If you expect horror, expect a let down. If you think there's real ghosts by the river, think twice. I'm pretty sure Jules meant for the "ghosts" to be the shadow aspects in the town folks' psyche, a web of five persons' drama which caused a death by the river.
