Ghostlight

A majestic movie, it makes you cry, definitely one of the most underrated of the whole year 2024x amazing performance and history, i watched this thank to the good Youtuber and ex honest trailer producer Dan, he is a very good critics and he very liked this movie so i watched and its pretty good to ve honest and that's always good ok, overall this is just a fantastic movie to watch with your family to cry and confess things that need to be say, this movie will change your life and make you a better person ok, overall it's fantastic and oscar worthy ok, this is a masterpiece An 8/10 masterpiece for me.

This film is pure storytelling without any pretense or formality. It beautifully captures the magic of theater, portraying the ups and downs of life while attempting to navigate its challenges. It's a humble piece of cinema, showing great respect for the medium, the audience, and the range of emotions. Despite focusing on the family's difficult situation, the movie delves deep into human emotions, establishing an intimate connection with the audience throughout. It's a remarkable example of independent cinema focused on authentic storytelling, something that's hard to come by in today's film landscape.

"Island of misfit toys" Rita (Dolly De Leon)

Rita aptly describes her ramshackle community-theater group and unknowingly describes the tough family at the heart of the dramedy film Ghostlight. Having survived an unbearable tragedy, construction worker dad, Dan (Keith Kupferer), secretly joins the group to play Romeo, in an adaptation of the Bard's colossal tragedy that mirrors the challenges of the film's nuclear family.

Writer, director Kelly O'Sullivan (along with co-director Alex Thompson) shows the therapeutic value of theater, just as director Greg Kwedar did for Sing Sing, in which prisoners found redemption from theater productions. The family finds out about Dan's secret life, eventually healing because of it.

The film's actual acting family of Keith, outspoken teen Daisy played by his daughter Katherine Mallen Kupferer), and mother Sharon played by wife/mother Tara Mallen lends a spirit to the film whereby each gently-revealed setback can't destroy the love they feel for each other on stage and real life. Oscar nominations should follow that real family.

Henry Miller would approve the admixture of love, humor, and tragedy is one of the two best movies of the year. To see it at holiday time is to remind us the salutary effect of quality family drama in film, theater, and life itself. Streaming on Prime.

I know several Shakespeare aficionados that claim, while Romeo and Juliet is the most taught of the tragedies, it ranks low on the quality scale. Even if we didn't pay attention in freshman English, we know the rough outlines of the plot.

Here, the 16th century R&J play exists as the metaphorical and literal binder for a real 2024 family, and suggests the unwritten aftermath the Verona families may have endured in the weeks and months and years that followed. Their rage ... anger ... despair ... sadness ... accusations ... avoidance.

What the audience is asked to infer from what's NOT on the screen makes what IS on screen all the more poignant and foreshadowing and graceful. The writing, casting, directing, and editing is just amazing.

Grief takes on many inescapable forms and can permeate everything. Grief is a funny thing, with a 1,000 triggers and 1,000 unexpected responses. Here, we're left with the possibility of the beginning of the healing.

I used to be embarrassed to cry in movies and would try as hard as I could to keep it in. But that would always leave me feeling afterwards like I had a head cold, plus now I'm older and I don't give a hoot what people think. So now I let my freak flag fly and just openly weep in a movie theater if the mood strikes me. I've also found since I had children of my own that more things make me emotional than previously.

So I was an absolutely snotty, dripping mess at multiple times throughout this movie. I'm a sucker anyway for stories about people who see other people at their worst moments and respond with kindness and understanding rather than harsh judgement, and this is that kind of story. It's also about the power of art to help us work through our emotions, make sense of the world, find common ground with others, broaden our perspectives, all the things the world feels really in need of right now but yet seems determined not to do.

Is "Ghostlight" manipulative? Probably. Does it hold up to scrutiny afterwards? I'm not sure, possibly not. But I don't care because I didn't scrutinize this movie afterwards. I just let myself feel it, and that's what I want to take away with me.

Grade: A.