Not all the machinated twists and turns can change the fact that Joey de Guzman’s The Ghosting is just a run-of-the-mill ghost story.
Not very well-told
In fact, its biggest flaw is not its lack of surprises – it is its problematic insistence to be different which ultimately gets in the way of its telling a coherent narrative. If there is one thing one learns from countless nights of spooking each other with scary stories and urban legends, it's that the true worth of a ghost story lies not in the spectacle but in the storytelling.
The Ghosting is not a very well-told ghost story.
It opens with Ken (Khalil Ramos), who, in a series of standard scares that lead to him failing to rescue a dear friend from a haunted house, reveals the character’s primary motivation in committing to protect Grace (Andrea Brillantes), the new girl in the subdivision who happens to be the next victim of the haunted house.
Everything is either haphazard or half-baked. De Guzman sprints from one scare to another, barely making any real attempts to make Ken, Grace or whatever kind of relationship they have anything to root for. It appropriates an urban legend as a launch pad for its horror and mystery but it doesn’t really make most of the premise, preferring to keep its scares within a frustratingly small circle that doesn’t appreciate the possibilities of tackling the concept.
Awkward narrative structure
The Ghosting doesn’t make its audience care for the fate of any of its characters.
The story is framed by interviews about the fate of Grace, mistakenly telegraphing her demise and forwarding the futility of having any emotional stake for the cause of any of the protagonists. The film’s awkward structure is precisely to prepare the audience for a twist that doesn’t really contribute anything to the picture. It only makes the storytelling even more fractured, making it feel like it is punctuated by unnecessary breaks and pauses that prevent the establishment of any true tension.
This is unfortunate.
There is effort in the crafting of The Ghosting. It has scares that rely not on jarring noises or sudden shocks but actual mood and atmosphere. The acting is consistent, even if Ramos and Brillantes aren’t really given much to be able to flex their skills. What really makes the film a struggle to sit through is not that there is no effort in making sure it stays true to its being a ghost story, it is that it makes itself overly complicated for naught.
A shadow, a ghost
The spare frights that The Ghosting offers can never excuse it for its glaring missteps. It is a shadow, a mere ghost of its promises. — Rappler.com
Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas' Tirad Pass.
Since then, he's been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema.
