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A Ghost Story is one of 2017’s best films, so skip the trailer

A Ghost Story is one of 2017’s best films, so skip the trailer

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I just listed the many ways Spider-Man: Homecoming’s new trailer outlines the entirety of the film’s main plot; I won’t do the same with the trailer for A Ghost Story, another bit of marketing that spoils large chunks of its film. I’m sharing the teaser because I know I would have wanted to watch it before I saw the movie at Sundance. But a word of warning: the film’s twists — heck, part of its message — is condensed into these two minutes of footage.

A Ghost Story isn’t like Spider-Man: Homecoming. It’s less reliant on a traditional story, and more about an experience. A trailer can’t quite do that justice. After all, you could watch this teaser a few times in the span of the movie’s most controversial (and slowest) scene.

The trailer can, however, spoil the many surprising ways A Ghost Story evolves from a simple spooky tale into something very different and much more ambitious.

I know. You’re probably going to watch the trailer anyway. When you’re done, here’s my review from Sundance. It doesn’t spoil the movie, though it does explain what makes it so special. Maybe that’s the better place to start.

And hey, if you really don’t mind spoilers, you should read this fantastic piece by David Ehrlich on how the film got made. It’s a fascinating story unto itself.