I’m sure we’ve encountered someone at some point in our lives that was so surreal, and bizarre that we’ve questioned if that person might be a ghost. The Dead Thing  directed by Elric Kane, written by Elric Kane and Webb Wilcoxen takes that notion and ghosting on a unique path. It’s a path that is  about combating loneliness which leads to obsession and danger. We meet Alex, played actually quite well by Blu Hunt.  She is kind of an outsider in life, and at work whose favorite activities are sun-bathing on a sunlamp and  hooking-up on a dating app. After an enchanting session with Kyle, who might be a ghost, Alex is determined to find him again, even if risky.  

Film tries to be hypotonic, in a trance-like state. It keeps the pace at an intentional lull to give characters to breath. The camera rock steady throughout, which filmmakers generally do when they know they are winning with the action and dialogue in front of it. I didn’t see anything that would be that retainable to do that format and that includes the music score. 

 The melancholy tone is well established and maintained, but nothing is there to break it up, by peppering some comedy or some other relief from it. Even if Alex’s story is a condemned journey. There is an enticing story of exploring the notion that maybe people are living more dead inside then ghosts are. Instead we go to the path of blue sadness erotica which of course, leads to a showdown at an outpool pool.   

Overall, the trajectory of the story is a cliche, the dead emptiness of characters and subplots just leaves me frustrated. Absent is motivation throughout the entire film and absent from each character is what hurts it the most. Although, I will champion that motive for character is not crucial, we still need a kernel of it to understand they’re actions so I can have some empathy for them. Without caring what happens to anybody in this film it has a short life span.