i’m the only future you’ve got

'A Ghost Story' (dir. David Lowery, 2017, A24) is a slow watch, and probably not for everyone. It moves at contemplative pace, really forcing you to think and project your own feelings, emotions and opinions on grief, life and death.

I saw someone on social media complaining that they watched this movie and were like "wtf this is so boring why does Noah like this" so I wanted to break down my reading of it, plus put in some frames from the film that I think will have inspired the music video/s.

Very basic plot: guy lives with girl, guy dies, guy haunts house.

There's a bit of dialogue between the guy and girl at the start of the movie, that really sets the tone, and I thought a lot about it through the lens of bad omens and their past few years.

"Why did you leave?"

"Cause I didn't have a choice."

I think this can be interpreted in two ways - the movie is about a guy dying, so you could say that he 'didn't have a choice' in leaving the realm of the living. But I also think that it implies that there is fate involved in where you're going.

I look at this in the context of Bad Omens' career - Noah feels as though he has had no choice but to 'leave' his old self as his career has taken off, and feels like a ghost in his own lived experience as the world around him changes and parts of him remain the same.

But at the same time, this is the success and career he wants for himself, so there is intention in the direction he is headed towards, and not just a lack of control at having to leave where you started.

I think 'The Drain' is also a really relevant song in this concept -

"I can't be saved Reaching for the life we threw away Watching as it circles in the drain With everything I loved that's gone to waste With everything I was but couldn't change"

I'm going to take a bet that the shots of the ghost outside are really strong references for 'Specter'. The colouring is beautiful, and there's also a really nice shot of the sheet the ghost is wearing being covered in mud. He's not just floating through the world, he's still interacting with it, even in his ghostly state.

There's a scene in the middle of the movie, which apparently people are divided about. There's a party in a house, and a guy goes on a long tangent about the creation of art and things that are meaningful, how as humans we aspire to leave a legacy and be remembered, and what inspires us to finish art and slave away at such pursuits.

"Mankind's on the verge of being wiped out, but it keeps going a little bit longer because someone hears someone else hum a melody in a cave and the physics of it in their ear make them feel something other than fear or hunger or hate, and mankind carries on and civilization gets back on track.

And now you're thinking you're gonna finish that book. But it won't last. 'Cause by and by, the planet's gonna die." I would hazard a guess that Bad Omens consider legacy a lot. It's a more grounding concept to think about and believe in, rather than being a 'hyped artist' in a singular moment, like they are now. I imagine the pressure of creating the follow-up to TDOPOM has weighed heavy, and you have to try and throw as many of those expectations out the window as you can to create something you'll truly be proud of.

I suppose little spoiler - I saw plenty of comments online saying they were unhappy/unfulfilled by the ending. I personally thought it worked in the film, and people that want closure in every film they watch should just stick to Disney or something lmao.

This scene made me think of 'Concrete Jungle' immediately. Everything built up around you, self-important, where you feel like you've reached the pinnacle of everything, but internally you're still........ dead. Or a speck of your old self, still trying to find meaning, closure, and/or humanity.

No notes, this frame is sick.