‘Ghostland’ is a 2018 horror psychological film that follows a mother and her two daughters as they are brutally attacked in their home by assailants. Against all odds, they survive, only to have the memory of the event become a recurring nightmare.
The film explores the dramatic effects of psychological trauma on the visceral depiction of violent abuse and its subsequent impact on victims.
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Is Ghostland a Real Story?
No, the ‘Ghostland is not based on fact. The film was written and directed by French screenwriter and director Pascal Laugier and follows his many film-making touches that include disturbing sets and unrelenting and violent episodes. He also appeared to use a number of horror genres in the film and gave them his own spin to build a novel audience experience.
From the arrangement of an unarmed ramshackle house to a collection of scary dolls and scary writing on mirrors, the film is full of vicious visions, accompanied by visceral violence. However, unlike the 2008 horror director’s film, ‘Martyrs’ which he claims is a study of cruelty and violence, the ‘Incident in a Ghostland’ centers on the psychological effects of trauma. With the dual perceptions of the two sisters, the director explores the different ways they choose to deal with the shocking violence they face.
With some clever cinematic techniques and by revealing small details, the film maintains a sense of external mystery that makes viewers unsure of which sister’s reality is real and which is deceptive. The uncertainty that goes on in the film can be attributed to Laugier’s love of open conclusions that leave the audience guessing and imagining what really happened. In an interview, he revealed that he was deeply influenced by the shocking 1959 program ‘The Twilight Zone,’ which often featured open sections. Ghostland.
‘An Event in the Land of the Landland’ and we seem to acknowledge the writers of the shocking genre, the main character is a budding writer who goes in and out of delusion when he is a famous writer. In fact, in one of the most recent episodes of the film, Beth talks to the legendary horror-fantasy plot H.P. Lovecraft during one of his ideas.
The film also has the full theme of how storytelling allows one to escape trauma by escaping the fabricated truth, a point reinforced in the closing scene where Beth, despite her traumatic experience, claims to be a writer. Of course, because of the film’s (and its directing) relationship of ambiguity, it is unclear whether Beth means to pursue a career in writing or to return to his delusion of becoming a famous writer.
‘Ghostland’ is a mythological activity that exaggerates the realities of real situations such as trauma and escape. Its director, who has written and directed many horror films such as ‘Saint Ange,’ ‘Martyrs,’ and ‘The Tall Man,’ uses his creativity with confidence and uses well-known horror tropes in unexpected ways to create truly unpleasant experiences.
