Film Review: GHOSTS OF WAR (2020): An Unremarkable Film with Scenes that Stall rather than Develop a Firm Premise

Ghosts of War Review

Ghosts of War (2020) Film Review, is movie directed by Eric Bress, starring Brenton Thwaites, Theo Rossi, Skylar Astin, Kyle Gallner, and Alan Ritchson.

Five American soldiers are assigned to guard a haunted French chateau. During World War II in 1944, a group of five young American soldiers are on duty in France and are tasked with guarding a sprawling two-story French chateau from the Nazis. The two American soldiers originally assigned to protect the chateau are notably quick to relinquish their responsibilities on to the hands of the unassuming five soldiers before abruptly leaving. As night falls the soldiers’ preoccupation of finding food and drink dissolve to concern about suspicious noises and movements around the chateau. A diary written in German and left behind by one of the previous family members of the chateau reveal how each family member died. The house is haunted by four spirits.The soldiers realize the unsettling activities around the chateau are supernatural in nature and not physical. (Strangely, notwithstanding the revelation, the five soldiers defend themselves from attacks by the spirits by using their guns and knives.) Attempts to abandon the chateau are unsuccessful–for the group and for the two soldiers who were originally assigned to guard the chateau.

There is some character development in the first half of the film which helps establish a theme and escalate the plot. The stories the five soldiers share with one another make clear that their confinement is not merely limited to the physical compounds of the house but also of their minds. The war has caused the soldiers to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. They are hence, haunted by ghosts in the literal and metaphorical senses. A family of four spirits, exhaustively seen in jump scares, torment them as well as their own memories of the war.

The film stagnates for the first half primarily because the elements of war trauma and supernatural activity in the chateau are revisited in too many scenes without introducing any new information to push the plot forward. Even the ambush by Nazi soldiers at the French chateau is largely unnecessary in building the climax. The much-needed plot twist, which gives the necessary build up and release of tension, occurs too late to redeem the movie. The five American soldiers are seen in another war time and military mission unrelated to World War II. The soldiers find themselves in the thick of a rescue mission in Afghanistan which eventually goes disastrously awry. Suddenly, the film’s genre as a supernatural thriller takes on political undertones with moral arches.

The pay off for the audience doesn’t happen until three fourths of the way in. Furthermore, some directors can seamlessly blend multiple genres into a cohesive story. However, in this instance Director Bress leaves the audience scratching their heads. This is because the film dwells too long in the genre of paranormal thriller so when the themes of morality and politics in war are introduced the movie ends without coming full circle to the opening quote of the film. For a more cohesive and balanced film, the filler scenes and exposition in the first third of the film could have been eliminated to clear the way for the introduction of the plot twist, which would then build a climax, toward the middle mark of the film. The rest of the film could have then explored the themes of morality and politics in times of war and PTSD.

Ghosts of War is an unremarkable film littered with too many jump scares, sound effects, and scenes that stall rather than develop a firm premise.

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