The first time I heard the premise of Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas, I though it was hilariously fucked up. Now, when most people hear the word “ghosting,” they think of ditching someone without saying a word. And yes, that is a plot element here: a girl goes on a date with a guy and then ghosts him. The catch is THAT SHE FUCKING DIED. SHE GHOSTED HIM BECAUSE SHE DIED AND IS NOW A GHOST. That’s macabre! And hilarious! And it’s a Christmas movie? Sign my morbid ass up!
As I said in the intro, Jess (Ms. Aisha Dee) goes on a date with the handsome Ben (Kendrick Sampson, who was in 3 episodes of The Flash), only to get into a car accident and die immediately afterwards. Whoops. She comes back as a ghost, and her roommate Kara (Kimiko Glenn, who is Horse in Centaurworld and Peni Parker in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) convinces her best friend that she hasn’t moved on because she has unfinished business. After that doesn’t work, a dodgy mystic (Missi Pyle) suggests that Jess can move on after fully embracing love. She continues to date Ben while Kara gets sweet with his sister, Mae (Jazz Raycole). When ghost fucking Ben also doesn’t do the trick, morale is low. That’s when the movie decides to have a very appreciated twist: Jess’ big love is Kara. Not in a gay way, although that was my impression going into this. No, Kara is Jess’ best friend and the non-romantic love they share is the connection that needed to be strengthened before Jess could move on. The movie ends with Ben dying a year later, because sure, let’s have a happy ending where the romantic lead has a heart attack or whatever.
It’s nice to be reminded that not every Christmas movie is about a woman desperately trying to fall in love with a man. Sure, Jess and Ben have an undeniable connection, but romantic love isn’t everything. There are absolutely other kinds of love, and Ghosting is about the power of philia, or deep friendship. And while I’ll always want every movie to be gayer than it actually is, the two roommates becoming romantic would’ve been a detriment (I’m not necessarily a fan of movies where two people who have been friends for a decade suddenly realize that they’ve been in love the entire time).
As for the movie, it’s cute. At first I thought it was trying too hard with a couple genuinely good moments, but eventually it won me over with its heart and humor. Plus, the romantic lead dies and it’s a happy ending, so that’s just outright hilarious.
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