On the first day of freedom, a grizzled ex-con must reconnect with his troubled son before his violent past catches up with them.
There have been plenty of movies that deal with men being released from prison after serving lengthy terms; “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Cape Fear,” “Mona Lisa,” and “Ocean’s Eleven,” but while many of those films deal with the ex-con wanting revenge on those who sent him away, “Ghost” tells the story of a man who has paid his debt to society and just wants to reconnect with his wife and son and move on with his life instead of looking back.
Tony (Anthony Mark Streeter) has just been released from prison after serving ten years for a series of violent crimes. Wanting to leave his former violent persona in the past, he tries to reconnect with his estranged son Conor (Nathan Hamilton) and wife Valerie (Emmy Happisburgh), with little success. Conor was just a kid when Tony was sent away but he is open to spending time with his father and seeing what transpires. As Tony tries to get himself sorted out, he meets up with an old friend, Dominic (Russell Barnett), a man who he used to work for many years ago. Dominic is delighted to see him and offers him his old position as his enforcer but Tony refuses, stating that he isn’t the person he used to be and wants to go legit, avoiding prison at all costs. Dominic is a powerful man and is not used to being turned down but after trying to persuade him some more, Tony is uncompromising in his decision not to return. As he tries to move forward with a new outlook on life, he quickly realizes the road ahead will be paved with hardship and adversity but just when Tony and his family reconcile, his past comes back to haunt him, and their lives will be changed forever.
One of the fascinating aspects of “Ghost” is that it was shot entirely on an iPhone using the FiLMiC Pro App with a Moondog Labs anamorphic lens and a DJI Osmo Mobile gimbal. Like Steven Soderbergh before him, director and cinematographer Anthony Z. James knows his way around a camera and the fact that it was filmed utilizing only an iPhone makes his vision even more unique. With a digital or film camera, you have more options in regards to camera settings and how you want each shot to look but with an iPhone, even using the FiLMiC Pro App, you are severely restricted, which makes this film a technical achievement. James also employs the use of long takes, instead of constantly cutting back and forth between two characters, at times, letting the camera linger on them without alternating between an assortment of shots and it gives a more realistic representation of two people engaging in conversation. The acting, for the most part, is satisfying, with Anthony Mark Streeter carrying the bulk of the movie on his shoulders. His Tony is a man of few words, someone who desperately wants to bury his violent past and concentrate on reconnecting with his family and working on his future.
James formulates the film so that we can observe the story and invest in the characters, not have them overshadowed by random moments of violence or some unnecessary narrative subterfuge to try and shock us, like other movies of its ilk. This is a straightforward story about one man and his desire to want to change his ways after being given a new lease on life. The film was shot in and around London and thankfully, it is not peppered with famous landmarks and locales, instead, it focuses on the story at hand, allowing the characters and their circumstances to carry it along and letting the background remain inconspicuous. “Ghost” is a powerful and compelling look at life after prison and the harsh realities that accompany one who has left its fold, hopefully for the last time.
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