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'Ghost of Home' Review

Updated: Mar 5

Genre: Short.

Director: Chen Xie.

Cast: Chen Xie.

The Verdict: A Must-See


Beautifully shot and unapologetically experimental, Ghost of Home drifts between the digital frames. Director Chen Xie layers together eerie fades and thermal imagery to evoke the sensation of a house after loss, specifically following his grandfather’s death. The result is less a story and more a mood. One that lingers and whispers.


Although definitely not horror, Ghost of Home borrows from the haunted house vocabulary, particularly surrounding the need of a ritual. Xie documents the construction and ceremonial burning of a paper home meant to shelter his grandfather’s spirit, intercut with thermal visions of familiar spaces and spectral glances that feel half remembered. The images are striking. 

If the film falters at all, it is only in its transparency of intent. The emotional current is clear from the first flicker, and some viewers may crave a firmer narrative plod. But cohesion may not be the point. This is grief filmed as atmosphere. 


In that sense, Ghost of Home succeeds boldly. This is a striking reminder that cinema can be less about plot and more about presence.

 
 
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