🎬 Title: A Ghost Story
Director: David Lowery
Starring: Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Supernatural
Runtime: 92 minutes
Full Plot Summary (English)
The story follows a young couple living in a small house in Texas. The man, known only as C, is a musician, and his partner, M, wants to move away for a fresh start. C, however, is emotionally attached to the house. One night, C dies in a car accident just outside their home.
After his death, C’s body is covered with a white sheet in the morgue. Moments later, his ghost rises, still under the sheet, with only two black holes for eyes. Silent and invisible to the living, he returns to the house where M continues to grieve.
C watches as M mourns in silence. She eats an entire pie in a long, painful scene of grief. Eventually, M moves out, leaving C alone in the house. He remains, stuck in time, watching as new residents come and go. He sees a Spanish-speaking single mother with two children, then a group of partygoers, including a philosopher who delivers a long monologue about the nature of time, memory, and the inevitability of oblivion.
As time passes, the house deteriorates, and eventually, it is demolished. Still, the ghost remains. He begins to “haunt” the land itself, even witnessing the construction of a futuristic city on the same spot in the far future. Then, he travels back in time and sees a pioneer family settling on the land, long before the house existed. Tragedy befalls the family, and their daughter dies.
C’s ghost eventually returns to the time when he and M first lived in the house. He sees their earlier selves again, replaying their shared moments. M hides a small note inside a crack in the wall before she moves out. The ghost tries to retrieve it but is unable to for a long time.
Eventually, C’s ghost reads the note. After reading it, he finally seems at peace, and the sheet disappears, suggesting he has been released from the earthly plane.
Themes & Symbolism
- Time: The film explores time non-linearly. The ghost experiences past, present, and future in a hauntingly endless loop.
- Grief: M’s deep mourning, especially in the pie-eating scene, is a raw depiction of human loss.
- Legacy & Memory: The note symbolizes what we leave behind, and the ghost’s attachment to it reflects the struggle to hold on to meaning.
- Existence: The film reflects on how individuals and their lives become small, silent parts of an enormous, indifferent timeline.