A Ghost Story

David Lowery had wanted to make a film featuring a man in a rudimentary ghost costume "for a while", telling Comingsoon.net: "I just loved that image. I love taking something that is understood to be funny or charming or sweet or naive and instilling it with some degree of gravity."[4] When he and his wife got in an argument about moving back to Texas, he began to write down the argument "thinking about my own attachment to physical spaces." After he thought to combine this with the idea about the ghost costume, he came up with the basic concept for the movie fairly quickly[4] and began to write the screenplay in the spring of 2016. Lowery also used the film to work through what he termed "An existential crisis" brought on by reading an article about the possibility of a catastrophic earthquake, saying: "I was not feeling optimistic about the future of mankind. I felt the world was on its way to ending. The film became my way of dealing with those issues."[5] The film's atypical 1.33:1 aspect ratio was chosen by Lowery partially because he thought it was thematically appropriate: "It’s about someone basically trapped in a box for eternity, and I felt the claustrophobia of that situation could be amplified by the boxiness of the aspect ratio."[6]

The ghost costume that was ultimately designed for the film ended up being more complicated than Lowery had anticipated. At first, the filmmakers attempted to simply use a normal bed sheet, but they found that even a king-sized sheet does not fully cover an adult male.[6] The final costume required Affleck to wear certain other garments beneath the fabric to achieve the desired look,[6] and the filmmakers found they had to resort to some "puppeteering" to keep the eyes in place.[6] Beyond the practical constraints of the costume, Lowery also found that it impeded Affleck's ability to act, noting: "every unique physical trait as a human being was pronounced and exaggerated by this sheet over his head." This did not give Lowery the results he wanted, and he eventually solved the problem by reducing the amount Affleck moved, so "it became a matter of patience and posture and moving very specifically, slowly and rigidly."[6]

Principal photography began in June 2016.[7][8] The majority of the film takes place within a single house, which was chosen by Lowery because it closely resembled the first house he lived in with his wife.[9] As the house was about to be demolished, the film crew was allowed to use it for free.[10] Some shots of the ghost, specifically those done during pickups or reshoots, do not feature Affleck, instead replacing him with the film's art director, David Pink, who was found to have a similar build.[11]

As the filmmakers did not know how the final product would turn out,[12][13] the film was shot in secret and not officially announced until November 2016, at which point it was confirmed that Mara and Affleck were the leads.[14][15] It was later revealed that Kesha would appear in the film in a cameo role.[16][17]

Daniel Hart composed the score for the film, as he had for all of Lowery's previous features and one short film. A soundtrack of the score was released by Milan Records on July 7, 2017.[18]

The film earned $104,030 from four theaters during its opening weekend (an average per-location gross of $26,008), finishing in 26th place at the American box office.[24] By the end of its theatrical run, it had grossed $1,596,371 domestically and $355,312 internationally, for a worldwide total of just under $2 million.[3]

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 91% based on 286 reviews, with an average score of 8/10; the website's "critics consensus" reads: "A Ghost Story deftly manages its ambitious themes through an inventive, artful, and ultimately poignant exploration of love and loss."[25] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average rating of 84 out of 100 based on reviews from 46 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[26]

Peter Debruge of Variety gave the film a positive review, writing: "While Lowery's actual method of delivery may not be scary, it's sure to haunt those who open themselves up to the experience."[27] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter also gave the film a positive review, writing: "A poetic meditation on time, memory and spiritual connection that is utterly true to its title."[28] Eric Kohn of IndieWire gave the film an "A" rating, calling it "an extraordinary mood piece that amounts to [Lowery's] best movie yet."[29] Gary Thompson of the Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film two and a half stars out of four and wrote: "The movie is trippy and almost willfully opaque—all I can say for sure is I left A Ghost Story feeling full."[30]

Richard Brody, writing for The New Yorker, included A Ghost Story in his list of the 27 best films of the decade.[31]

On September 9, 2017, the film won three awards at the 43rd Deauville American Film Festival: the Revelation Prize, the Critics Prize and the Jury Prize; additionally, David Lowery was nominated for the Grand Special Prize.[32] On October 14, the film won two awards at the Sitges Film Festival: Best Photography and the Carnet Jove Jury Award.[33] At the Fantasia Film Festival, the film won the Camera Lucida Award.[34]