The boundary between haunting and horror is often a matter of perspective
In short: In the 2020 anthology Ghost Stories, four distinct visions of the supernatural explore how guilt, mental illness, and isolation manifest as terror. From a woman trapped in a cycle of delusion to a bride who discovers she is the one being haunted, the film examines the thin line between reality and the afterlife.
Released on Netflix on January 1, 2020, Ghost Stories is a collaborative anthology featuring segments by four prominent Indian directors: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, and Anurag Kashyap. This project marks the third installment in a series of anthology films by these directors, following Bombay Talkies (2013) and Lust Stories (2018). The production involved a diverse ensemble cast, including Janhvi Kapoor, Vijay Varma, and Sobhita Dhulipala, with a score primarily composed by Peji Shahkoti. The film explores supernatural themes through varied lenses.
One segment depicts a pregnant woman whose mental illness blurs the line between reality and the obsessive affection of a child. Another presents a high-concept survival horror where a man enters a town where the inhabitants have been eaten by a humanoid creature. In this narrative, the 'monsters' do not eat those who also consume human flesh, creating a desperate social dynamic where survivors must mimic the behavior of the predators to survive.
The most psychologically complex segment involves a bride, Ira, who observes her husband interacting with his deceased grandmother. It is eventually revealed that the grandmother's death was a result of a tragic accident caused by the husband during a game of peek-a-boo. The story concludes with a chilling revelation: the maid, Shanti, poisoned Ira with castor seeds to end her pain, just as she had done for the grandmother. The film suggests that the 'ghost' is a manifestation of a world where those who refuse to acknowledge the dead are eventually joined by them. Critically, the film received mixed reactions. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 36% positive rating from 11 critics. While some reviewers found the political elements of Banerjee's segment elevating, others criticized the film for lacking genuine jump scares or spine-chilling moments, suggesting that its primary power lies in its narrative structure rather than traditional horror tropes.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Ghost Stories (2020 film)
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