[REVIEW] Brooklyn Horror Film Festival: Ghostwritten
Spoilers ahead!
Thomas Matthews’ debut feature Ghostwritten had its New York premiere at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. The Nantucket-based ghost story has its roots in the myth of Faust and follows Guy Laury (Jay Duplass) as he takes a writer’s residency in a house that may or may not be haunted. Ghostwritten is funny and quirky and Duplass’ charm is shining brighter than ever. Laury is a one-hit wonder of a writer and it shows based on his mannerisms and approach to truly every part of this film.
As Laury sits and stares at his computer, in the Nantucket house, he begins to see a woman, Lucy (shown as both Lena Hudson and Kate Lyn Sheil) in the house after discovering a full-length novel script under the floorboards. Laury believes that he is seeing flashbacks of Lucy being murdered by her writing partner Marty, or is he? Ghostwritten does follow the Faust model with a man who is dissatisfied in life and in the post-screening Q&A Matthews’ makes note that the film is looking to understand if Laury really desires to write, or if he continues to be a writer as a plea for attention. Does Laury want the image of being a writer more than wanting to tell the stories themselves? This is an interesting premise and though the method by which the story is told is thoroughly enjoyable, these themes are not very clear and the film comes off as confused in a way that is simultaneously constructive, but ultimately muddy.
Laury ends up submitting the script he finds, allowing himself to steal the work of this woman who was maybe murdered in the house. Though the end of the film twist acknowledges that the female spirit in the house may have been playing with Laury’s mind, the moral implications of this plot line are tricky and complicate the film in a way that is worth discussing.
The dead girl is a common trope and in this case, even though it is being used as a setup for a twist, the woman character is still being fridged (killed off to further the plotline of the male hero). The woman is first seen as the tragedy that leads to the haunting of this house and then when we learn that she wrote the to-be stolen manuscript, Laury is just taking credit for a murdered girl’s work. Laury’s choice to steal the work is the central moral conflict of the film, and thus does serve a purpose as we, rightfully so, understand that he is a bad person for this act. That being said, it’s still a choice to set up the narrative arc of our flawed male character in this manner. There are ways to deconstruct and criticize masculinity that do not include one of the female characters (who all seem to blend together in the story, quite literally) being the method through which the audience discovers the flaws of the male protagonist.
Laury is also framed as a hero as he chases after Marty (Thomas Jay Ryan) who he presumes killed Lucy. While the device is still being used so that we acknowledge Laury’s faults, there is still something about it that does not sit right. When the twist is revealed that Lucy may not have been murdered, or possibly not a person at all, she is revealed to be a version of a harpie or demon. She is shown playing with Laury’s mind and making him see things, so not only has she been presented as a dead girl murdered to further Laury’s plot, but she is now demonized if those events never happened.
In either story, Lucy is at fault for Laury not being able to write his own work. The demon plot line may be presented as if she has the agency to control a man, but she is ultimately blamed for everything. This narrative of flawed masculinity can only be critiqued through the lens of a magical manic pixie demon, whether she is dead or alive, leaving the audience to take any blame away from our charismatic Laury. The cooky visuals and attempt at a powerful female role serve as a distraction that makes us forget that Laury is in fact the one to blame, which ultimately invalidates the purpose behind the film.
Ghostwritten may be a fun time and a smart re-imagining of a classic tale, but its paranormal activity suffers from its own misogyny in a glaring, unflattering light, leaving much to be desired.