Movie Review: Ghostlight

Previews for Ghostlight appeared before some other movies I saw earlier this summer, and its premise intrigued me. I made a point to see it before it left Broadway Centre Cinemas this week, and I found it to be a deeply touching exploration of the intimate connection between life and art, particularly as it pertains to facing life’s most difficult moments.

Ghostlight poignantly portrays a suburban family’s struggle to come to terms with a profound loss that has left each family member heartbroken and angry, unable to articulate and process his or her emotions. Real-life family Keith Kupferer, Tara Mallen, and Katherine Kupferer bring Dan, Sharon, and Daisy Mueller to life on screen. Dan and his wife Sharon are summoned to their teenage daughter Daisy’s school because her behavior and language are out of control, and she has assaulted a teacher. School administration wants to expel Daisy since this isn’t her first offense, but her parents negotiate a two-week suspension in exchange for taking her to therapy. Dan, a road construction worker, has a similar altercation at his job site when several stresses converge, causing him to lose his temper and attack a rude driver. Dan’s boss later learns about the incident from some video footage, and he assigns Dan to take a leave of absence. Rita (Dolly De Leon), a woman from a nearby storefront who previously challenged Dan about the noise his construction crew was making, observes the altercation and invites Dan inside what turns out to be a no-budget theater with a small cast beginning a production of Romeo and Juliet. Rita extends the invitation because she senses that Dan would benefit from pretending to be someone else for a while. Dan reluctantly reads the script with the cast and assumes his participation will be a one-time experience. However, as family tensions increase over a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Dan and Sharon’s deceased son Brian, Dan returns to rehearse with the cast and is eventually given the part of Romeo opposite Rita’s Juliet. Little by little, Dan’s experience of “being someone else for a while” closely aligns with his real-life trauma and helps him access and express the intense grief affecting him and his family. Daisy discovers what her father is doing, which reignites her love of theater, and she is cast as Mercutio. The experience proves cathartic for her as well. Sharon, a teacher and theater director at the school, assists the cast in moving their one-night-only performance of Romeo and Juliet from their tiny theater to the school’s auditorium. Promoting the play among other teachers and students helps the cast gain a much larger audience than they anticipated. What ensues is a magical, creatively interpreted rendition of Shakespeare’s classic. Seeing Dan and Daisy perform on stage gives Sharon an opportunity to release the grief she had been carrying.

I intentionally kept my synopsis of Ghostlight somewhat vague to avoid spoiling one of the most beautiful aspects of the film. The plot unfolds methodically, allowing details of Dan, Sharon, Daisy’s trauma to come to light piece-by-piece rather than in a singular exposition at the beginning of the film. The audience watches Dan, an unlikely person to be interested in theater, gradually immerse himself in the process of “being someone else for a while” until he hits that vulnerable spot where his own emotions intersect with those needed to portray Romeo. His catharsis through theater gives Daisy and Sharon permission to do the same. As Dan goes deeper in his understanding of Romeo, the events of the family’s personal tragedy are revealed. Structuring the film this way allows the audience to piece together the tragic events and experience significant emotional realizations at the same time as each character. I found this pacing to be extremely effective for comprehending the depth of the family members’ grief. Keith Kupferer, Tara Mallen, and Katherine Kupferer do a marvelous job of bringing the audience along on this emotional journey.

Ghostlight is rated R for language and mature themes. The film does address the topic of suicide which may be difficult content for some viewers. As of this writing, Ghostlight has ended its run at Broadway Centre Cinemas. Check local listings and online streaming services to see where else Ghostlight may be available. It is a thought-provoking film that I recommend seeing.