In GHOSTLIGHT we meet a family under pressure. The family comprises construction worker Dan Mueller, his teacher wife, Sharon and their teenage daughter Daisy. The pressure mainly comes from the recent death of their son Brian. Dan is blaming Brian’s ex girlfriend Christine Hawthorne for his death as they were experimenting with drugs when they were both found wasted but Brian was unresponsive when they tried to revive him. Dan files a wrongful death against Christine Hawthorne. This stresses the family financially and emotionally. Added to the stress is that daughter Daisy is having behavioural problems at school and is currently expelled.
Dan’s stress boils over when he picks a fight with a rude motorist close to the construction site he has been working on.A woman on the street, Rita, witnesses the incident and thinking that he might need some comfort invites him to the community theatre situated there and to audition for the part of Lord Capulet in the production of Romeo and Juliet they are currently working on. Dan thinking that this might bring him out of himself starts getting involved with the theatre.
This decision gives him a new lease on life and he starts getting in touch with his feelings and is more able to cope with them. Dan enjoys being around this warm group of people. And he ends up getting the role Romeo to Rita’s Juliet after she had a spat with the previous Romeo who said that she was too old to play the role of Juliet which she thought offensive and ageist.
Kelly O’Sullivan wrote the script for GHOSTLIGHT which she also co-directed with Alex Thompson. Their direction was sensitive and attuned as were the performances of the cast.
Keith Kupferer as Dan and Tara Mallen as Sharon gave sympathetic performances as the struggling parents trying to get on with their lives. Both actors were successful in conveying the edginess of their characters. In real life they are married to each other.
Their real life daughter Katherine Mallen plays their daughter Daisy in the film. Whilst being stormy on the outside, she has a warm heart.
Dolly De Leon gives a good performance as Rita whose empathetic qualities helps to ground the often all over the place Dan.
Lia Cubilete gives a strong performance in the difficult role of Christine, caught in the glare of Dan and Sharon as they blame her the death of their son.
This was a warm, authentic film. The lasting impression was that this was a film depicting an average, ordinary family encountering difficulties who find comfort and strength in.participating with a local community theatre.
GHOSTLIGHT opened in cinemas on Thursday 10th October 2024.
