Light from Light

This film is a perfect, searching and soulful little piece of film making. All four people brought to life here are living in hope for something outside of themselves and beyond the mundane but necessary realities of work, study and getting by. They seek life. They seek light. They seek love. And death is the undercurrent and background and vehicle through which this search takes on a more urgent and pressing need for meaning. And of course, there are various histories, some spoken and others not, relating to grief and loss and a need for forgiveness and closure. The father who 'drank himself to death'. The deceased wife who 'had something going on with another man'. The single mother who despite doing her best, cannot protect her son from the risks life and love inevitably bring, without hurting him herself.

The title of the film, Light from Light. is borrowed from the Nicene Creed and the context in which it is used here, is, to quote a modern shibboleth, spiritual. not religious.

It's beautifully filmed with a mellow soundtrack and lends itself to reflection over entertainment, much to the chagrin of at least one other reviewer here so far, I see (with much amusement).

Enjoy!

Shelia (Marin Ireland) thinks that she has supernatural clairvoyant powers. She's a single mom. Her son Owen's classmate Lucy has a crush him. Shelia gets a request from Richard (Jim Gaffigan) who thinks his farmhouse is haunted by his late wife.

It's a slow, quiet paranormal movie and at some point, I stop trying to care. It has a good moodiness and Ireland is a great lesser-known actress. This only has one great scene with Owen & Lucy and that scene could have been filmed better. It is deliberately low-key that it refuses to heighten the intensity with its most intense scene.

A paranormal investigator (Marin Ireland) researches a home where a widowed husband (Jim Gaffigan) experiences paranormal activity after his wife passes away in a plane crash.

Light from Light is a film that is very slow paced but in a calm relaxing way. The calming music in specific scenes gives the film mystery throughout the film. The characters deep conversations about life gives the feel/tone of the film a more realistic and natural approach. Light from Light is a melodic mystery on the feelings we experience from paranormal activity.

Light from Light is a recommend film to watch. Overall a slow paced, thoughtful film with impressive performances from Marin Ireland and Jim Gaffigan.

Imagine a meditative film about "ghost hunting", coming from a place of introspection and honesty- this is "Light from Light". There's nary a false note or sensationalized anything here. Really gentle and moving and filled with human performances- Marin Ireland and Jim Gaffigan are fantastic as lived-in characters given dialogue that feels real, like conversations you might have in their situation. Both naturalistic and transcendental is hard to pull off; it's easy to be over-the-top. Much harder to convey something that's both magical and earthy, or the creation of a film that feels like the closest approximation to life possible. That's what "Light from Light" is, and it's rare and lovely.

So, if you're a fan of thoughtful, soulful indie films, then you've come to the right place. Reminiscent of the film "Columbus" by Kogonanda. If you know of that film or have seen it, then this feels like a kindred spirit. Highly recommended.

I can't say I enjoyed this one as much the previous film directed by Paul Harrell "Something, Anything", but it was enjoyable, engaging, and interesting. Am happy to see the relatively high Metacritic score though. Maybe I need to revisit this one!