Ghost Stories

Watched India's 2020 Ghost Stories (2:23:50), comprised of four different ghost stories shot by four different directors, No Bollywood movie this--each episode could have very well been a piece of cinematic art directed by Satyajit Ray or Alfred Hitchcock in digital monochromes.

In the first story, Sameera, a female nurse/caregiver, fills in for Nurse Mamta, who is unable to report for work. Her patient, an old woman who suffered a stroke two years ago, insists that her son is in the apartment, hiding--and, indeed, Sameera senses indications that they are not alone.

In the second story, little boy Ansh becomes jealous when he finds out that his Aunty Neha, who sits for him, is pregnant. He wishes the baby dead and makes crossed-out drawings of it. We later discover that Neha lost her previous baby immediately after giving birth to it, and that she has a dark secret of her own.      

The third story is set in desolate Smalltown, where a traveler is dropped off by a train miles from his destination and must walk all the way to find a Block Development Office. He encounters two children in hiding. They inform him that all of the residents of Smalltown have been eaten by the residents of Bigtown, and that they are in danger of being eaten too. 

Finally, the fourth story is about newly-wed couple Dhruv and Ira, who, after their wedding, live in Dhruv's ancestral house. Ira is freaked out by the fact that Dhruv, who was his Granny's favorite grandchild, says good night to his Granny every night and plays peek-a-boo with her, despite the fact that his Granny passed away 20 years ago. 

All four stories are what 21st-century horror stories should be--disturbing rather than terrifying, and thought-provoking rather than jolting to the senses. Despite the annoyingly long opening titles, here, at last, is a horror movie that has no senseless screaming, no boyfriends materializing out of nowhere to rescue their girlfriends, no references to 666, no possession and exorcism, no nuns and priests, no religious statues with bleeding eyes, and no prosthetic shape-shifting. The dialogue is just as sparse as in Ray's and Hitchcock's works, so that the movie is essentially a visual experience. Even the stories, when closely scrutinized, can be perceived as metaphorical rather than literal.  

A must-watch for audiences completely jaded by B-grade moves from Hollywood.