Fantasia International Film Festival (FIFF) – The dating world has been struck by the phenomenon of ghosting for quite some time now, and in Ghosting Gloria, written by Mauro Sarser and co-directed by Sarser and Marcela Matta, this modern-day phenomenon is married with some good old fashioned ghost phenomena as well, culminating in a love story full of both pleasant and unpleasant surprises. This Spanish language film out of Uruguay was wonderfully comedic but also had some intuitive social commentary, and a bonus of phantasmic pleasure — ultimately, Ghosting Gloria turned out to be one of my favorite horror-comedies out of the 2021 Fantasia Film Festival lineup.

The film follows Gloria (Stefania Tortorella), a woman who is single and not really looking as she often feels closer to the characters and writers of books, which she surrounds herself with in her job as a bookseller. When her best friend notices she often looks tired and suggests she needs a long overdue orgasm, Gloria instead realizes she is not getting enough sleep due to her noisy, lovemaking neighbors, resulting in her rushing a move into a new place. After settling in, an eerie feeling of a presence sets in as well as objects move and fly unexpectedly, until one day, the hauntings escalate into a sexual relationship with the passionate poltergeist — a relationship that ultimately delivers her into the arms of love and death.

This highly erotic haunting horror is every woman’s fantasy and nightmare wrapped up in one juicy cumming of age story that I eagerly lapped up during my viewing session. I don’t believe I’ve seen such hot and intense human/ghost action since that one Dr. Crusher episode of Star Trek: TNG or perhaps Ghost (1990), but unlike the typically serious and melancholic ghost love stories, Ghosting Gloria had me laughing, blushing, and turning my volume down on the naughtier parts, though I am grateful that the film went there and was unafraid to hold back on the passion, as there is certainly not nearly an equal enough ratio of cunnilingus to fellatio in cinema at this present time.

What’s more, Stefania Tortorella’s performance as Gloria is truly a title character worthy performance, I found her portrayal of Gloria totally endearing and it was nice to fall in love with an identifiable character like the intuitive and demure Gloria. Ghosting Gloria could have easily turned cheesy and zany, but directors Marcela and Sarser sidestep this by championing intellectual characters and poking fun at old horror tropes in new ways, such as using normally ominous ouija boards and fogged up mirrors to do banal things like text with your ghostly boyfriend. It is clever without being pretentious, setting a chunk of its story in a bookstore that caters primarily to customers that just like the aesthetics of books than the actual content — a bit of a bite at the hollowness of contemporary hipster culture.

I imagine that Ghosting Gloria romantic comedy should resonate with many people — a good shot of catharsis should be injected into anyone who has experienced the highs and lows of heartache and might be in the mood for a feel-good film with an eerie atmosphere. Every single character is loveable, the interchange of upbeat tango music for everyday life with classically creepy music for suspenseful moments was fun, and the story is truly creative in the way that it addresses the afterlife, the spirit world, and our present world of difficulty in dating and romantic connections.

The film will screen as part of the Fantasia International Film Festival, happening August 5-25.

7.75 out of 10