A Useful Ghost (2025) Movie Drinking Game
Take a Drink: for g-g-ghosts!
Take a Drink: whenever anyone protests or mistreats the ghost vacuum
Take a Drink: for every return to the wrap-around storytelling
Do a Shot: when things get kinky
By: Henry J. Fromage (Two Beers) –
Thai cinema has a strong history at Cannes, predominantly through the efforts of Apichatpong Weerasethakul, culminating in his Palme d’Or win for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.
Now Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke seeks to add to that legacy with this year’s Critic’s Week selection A Useful Ghost, which tells the story of the wife of a vacuum factory owner’s son who passes away and possesses one of the their products. Her husband is delighted to discover he can continue living with and loving her, although pratically everyone else is horrified. Until she proves useful handling other ghost-haunted appliances, that is.
A Toast
Right from the jump, Boonbunchachoke’s dry and goofy sense of humor stands out. He delivers several laugh out loud moments in the straight-faced ridiculousness of his premise, like the matter of fact conversation between nurse and vacuum cleaner ghost about hospital visitor policy, or the pan to a shocked reaction to a little man on vacuum action.
The way the possessed appliances move reminded me of Julio Torres’ work, how the scenes are impeccably staged and framed lend a touch of Roy Andersson to the proceedings. These ghosts and their interactions with humanity touch on themes of love and longing, death and remembrance, and even some bureaucratic and capitalist critiques, which somewhat surprisingly rise to the fore in time for an ending with more fire than I at least saw coming.
Beer Two
The story being told in the wrap-around segment, which is going somewhere, I assure you, sure is a long and winding one. Likely we could have found some minutes to lose of the 130 in the offing, but it casts a spell nonetheless.
Verdict
A Useful Ghost is a ghost story quite unlike any you may have seen before, stylish, funny, and more than a little angry at the status quo.
