A Ghost Waits

A Ghost Waits (2020) is one of those concepts that should have made director / co-writer Adam Stovall a hot property in Hollywood.  A meet-cute rom-com between a lonely handyman who refuses to be scared away by the female ghost haunting one of his properties is just the sort of high-concept idea that used to start a good old fashioned bidding war.  But rather than tweak the script to fit producers’ expectations, Stovall went ahead and made the movie himself.  And it’s an admirable effort, full of cleverness and warmth.  But one that could have benefitted with a bit more time and resources.


Temporarily homeless and sleeping on the floor in a vacant house he’s been assigned to assess, Jack is a people pleasing property manager who doesn’t scare easy.  In fact, when Muriel, the ghost who’s been assigned to haunt said property, fails to send him running, she faces disciplinary action from her supernatural superior.  But rather than finish the job, she finds herself falling for the one person she can’t have.  Same goes for Jack, whose feeling for this “spectral agent” stir up emotions he never experienced before.

 

Shot with a distinctly lo-fi vibe in black-and-white, A Ghost Waits fits comfortably in with the slightly surreal world view popular in the current indie cinema-space.  Director Adam Stovall embraces not only the inherent quirkiness of the situation, but the trendy ghost cliches of mainstream films (i.e. harshly lit, heavily scarred ghost girls who levitate on command).  Much of the social commentary of the afterlife is borrowed from the like of Beetlejuice and Defending Your Life, but the meat and potatoes of the movie is the budding relationship between Jack and Muriel.

 

So it’s too bad Stovall makes the courtship so rushed and perfunctory.  His actors – MacLeod Andrews and Natalie Walker – are dramatically challenged to be sure, but there was a bigger, more emotionally fulfilling story waiting just behind the veil.  It’s probably not fair to criticize A Ghost Waits for what it isn’t – because there are much worse ways to spend 80 minutes – but with so much potential I’d be willing to give this one a do-over.

 

Arrow deserves some praise for putting this one out there; it’s sure to win a ton of fans.  The special edition Blu-ray comes with three audio commentaries, interviews, outtakes, easter eggs and a spot-on video essay from Isabel Custodio who places the film in context with other takes on the afterlife.

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