I didn’t really know much about Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson’s film Ghostlight before seeing it. I heard vague mentions about it on film podcasts I listen to, I saw it had a 100% RT score, I saw half of the trailer on my phone on YouTube the morning I saw it when I was looking for something to do in the afternoon, before I thought, ‘sure, I’ll see that.’ And I want to be vague so I can give others the same experience. Ghostlight is an emotional marvel – a deeply personal, profoundly moving picture and I would be very surprised if it did not end up on my best-of-the-year list.

Open on Dan and Sharon (real-life spouses Keith Kupferer and Tara Mallen) and their daughter Daisy (their real-life daughter Katherine Mallen Kupferer). This is a middle-class American family clearly going through a tough time. We learn more about what that is, and why everyone is behaving the way they are as the film progresses. Dan is a construction worker on the verge of a mental breakdown. Sharon is disconnected from everyone. Daisy is a rebellious teenager who keeps getting into trouble.

One day on the construction site, Rita (Dolly de Leon, of Triangle of Sadness) finds Dan and brings him into her community theatre troupe which is staging a production of Romeo & Juliet. Dan slowly finds this to be a place where he feels welcomed and where he belongs. And this gives him something to bond with his wife and daughter over, bringing the family together in a time of great hardship.

Ghostlight is a film about the healing power of art. It is about grief, it is about allowing yourself the grace to deal with every emotion, those that are scary, hard and even impossible. It is about the emotional power theatre can have, and it beautifully encapsulates why I find it so essential. I have always been a theatre person, and I entirely blame my aunt Lynn for this. Lynn was kind enough to take me to shows, starting when I was very young, continuing in the present day, and the world of theatre has always felt like home to me. I was not involved in school productions, mostly due to my own social anxiety growing up, but I have always felt like the theater is a special, magical, healing place. And that is something the lovely Ghostlight captures so well.

I have seen almost none of these actors before, and only afterwards discovered this is a real family. This is a real set of parents acting opposite their teenage daughter, and in some films I could see how that wouldn’t work. But since none of these people are particularly well-known, at least to me, that added to the authenticity of the emotions depicted onscreen in a very unique way. Literally every member of this main cast has a moment that totally broke me emotionally.

And the terrific Dolly de Leon, who I did kind of recognize, but couldn’t pinpoint until the end credits where from – is perfect here. She doesn’t seem like much of a nice person in the beginning of the film – nobody really does. In the beginning, it feels like we’re watching something similar to Falling Down, where everybody is just behaving so terribly to our main character, and it feels like we are waiting for him to snap and have his revenge on everyone. Luckily, that is not the story being told here at all.

I became emotionally invested early on here, when it became clear this is a film that absolutely loves theatre, and understands the emotional power it can have. I started tearing up early on, and I think I was in between holding back tears and full on sobbing throughout the majority of this film. I had to sit in the theater lobby for awhile afterwards and collect myself before I felt well enough to drive home. And I love that this film had that kind of impact on me, because this is something that does not happen often. I cannot remember the last time a film left me feeling the way Ghostlight did.

The direction and cinematography are workmanlike, and aren’t showy, but I absolutely love the way this screenplay unfolds. Everything that doesn’t quite make sense when we begin is beautifully realized by the end. And yet, it never feels like we’re waiting around for big reveals, or big moments of catharsis. Ghostlight is such a beautifully acted, beautifully told story. It is overwhelmingly moving, deeply meaningful and remarkably true. It’s hard to believe in the last week I have seen two movies (this and Thelma) that will without a doubt be on my top ten list this year, after months of not seeing a lot that’s special. And to stumble into a movie theater not really knowing what to expect, but being utterly stunned and enveloped by the thing you’re seeing to the point where you need recovery time after before you drive home?! That’s one of my favorite things in the world.