A haunted sweater bedevils a young actor in Chilean writer-director Roberto Doveris's playful LGBTQ comedy-drama, which doubles as a snapshot of millennial life in modern-day Santiago.
Twenty-year-old Pablo (Juan Cano, an engaging screen presence) starts by helping his roommate to move out, leaving him alone in a two-bedroom apartment. The roommate, who owes two months' rent, claims that his room was haunted. Though he promises to return for his plants and his dog, he fails to respond to Pablo's texts. He also leaves an argyle cardigan behind.
Afterward, strange things start to happen: the vintage cardigan keeps sliding off the hook on the wall, items randomly fall from tables, and the dog, a black and white poodle mix named Susan, barks as if someone else was in the apartment. Doveris uses rough, hand-drawn animation to depict a shapeshifting ghost, one that could be a person or a combination of people.
As the days pass, Pablo continues to find broken items on the floor, and assumes that Susan is to blame, but when he locks her out on the balcony, the ghost lets her back in. Even after he loans her to his parents, strange things keep happening throughout the apartment, though the phenomenon plays more as a mystery for Pablo to solve than a scare-generating mechanism.
Then, during an acting assignment involving medical students--Pablo plays a patient--his scene partner notices bruises on his back. They appear to be the ghost's doing, though Pablo claims they're the result of a bike accident.
Later, at a gathering in his apartment, a friend posits that the ghost haunts the cardigan because it smells like the roommate. She also encourages him to forget about his ex-boyfriend, YouTuber Francisco (Fernando Castillo), who poses for selfies with fans whenever they socialize in public ("He’s not that hot," she sniffs). Another friend brings over herbs to scare away the ghost.
Meanwhile, life improves for Pablo as he goes on a date, makes a new friend, books an audition, and finds a possible roommate. The implication is that the ghost encouraged him to work harder to better his life--though this doesn't explain the bruises.
In the end, Doveris (2015's Las Plantas) allows the phenomenon to remain mysterious, though Pablo makes a decision that finally pushes the ghost out of his life, leaving the cardigan to shake up some other stagnant soul in need of a push. The lack of a definitive explanation may frustrate some viewers, but the director, lead actor, and cinematographer Patricio Alfaro certainly create a warm and welcoming world where young people, gay and straight alike, are free to shape their lives as they wish.
What kind of film series would this narrative fit in?
Phantom Project would fit into film series on contemporary Spanish-language or Chilean cinema, particularly titles of LGBTQ interest. Though a ghost sets the plot in motion, the film doesn't qualify as horror in the conventional sense.
What kind of film collection would this title be suitable for?
Phantom Project would be suitable for Spanish-language and LGBTQ film collections in academic and public libraries.
What type of library programming could use this title?
Library programming on the contemporary LGBTQ or millennial experience would find an enjoyable, accessible example in Phantom Project. The film would also work for programming new voices in Spanish-language cinema.