'Ghostlight' A Review

Ghostlight is a family drama about construction worker Dan(Keith Kupferer) who stumbles across a community theater production of Romeo & Juliet where he befriends one of the actors Rita(Dolly de Leon). Eventually he joins the cast and through the process is able to work through family troubles with his wife Sharon(Tara Mallen) and daughter Daisy(Katherine May Kupferer)

Keith Kupferer is a reserved but emotive lead, there's a clarity to all his internal ebbs and flows thats really impactful if not big. There's a naturalism to the performance, almost an everyman quality, that grounds the film but also clearly conveys its sincerity. Him and de Leon have great chemistry and she carves out her own beautifully rendered character with a limited supporting role. Katherine May Kupferer is more theatrical, more dramatic, which makes sense as a teen and as a drama kid and her arc because of this is probably the most clearly drawn. Mallen has the smallest of the family roles and is equally effective, just makes you wish she had a bit more space in the screenplay. Their chemistry is helped by the fact the family is a family in real life. The rest of the supporting cast are all lovely and real and build out this world and community with a grace and intention that seems to be almost passé in our current transitional era of cinema.

The film looks great, shot on location in the Chicago suburbs, as a result its sense of people and place furthers the films intentions. There's not a ton of flash in the production but there are some nice touches, distorted sound or shaky close ups to convey high emotion. It just works and serves to bolster the simple yet evocative realism. Where the film really soars is in the exploration of its themes, namely grief and the transformative nature of art. The way the film builds the story and characters to a relatively subtle but extremely potent catharsis. The narrative has a quality that, again, seems almost like a throwback in that the characters over the course of the film change. They learn and grow. The drama isn't bludgeoning or bleak, its quiet and authentic, there is plenty of humor, but its effect is deep. These are just people trying to figure it out and isn't that what all of us are?

Earnest, powerful, in keeping its scope intimate it soars.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

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