A gradual, glacial, genuine glimpse glorifying the day job grind against glimmers of gimmicks gestures to give a grin or a grimace with a ghost gone ghastly.

Phantom Project (Proyecto Fantasma) is a new horror/comedy from Chile presented in Spanish with English subtitles. It’s about Pablo, who just moved into his new apartment. He’s an aspiring actor seeking to star in feature films who meets the surrounding neighbours in his public housing complex, the Ñuñoa neighbourhood.

Juan Cano is Pablo, a relatable, likable character. He carries the film because he’s great at showing both vulnerability and inner strength as he tries his best to persevere. It’s also nice to see an openly gay character that isn’t defined by his sexuality. It’s only one small fraction of his ever-growing complicated life. His roommate turns out to abandon the place leaving all the responsibilities solely on him including his roommate’s dog Susan. Struggling to get by, he works at a medical school as a patient simulating illnesses for students in training. He must also work for an odd alternative therapy clinic. I haven’t even gotten to the ghost yet.

Pablo builds all these friendships along the way and everything seems fine at first. As the days go by random destruction keeps happening within this apartment. It starts with smaller occurrences but gets worse over time. Random dishes start breaking in the kitchen with no logical explanation to cause it. Later when Pablo goes to work at the medical clinic he begins acting out having headaches but the pupils discover real bruises on his back that he was unaware of, for example. Hand-drawn animation is used for the ghosts and I must admit, it’s fun and creative how it’s done.

His friends make him aware of tabloid articles about paranormal sexual encounters or spectrophilia. I honestly didn’t know this was a thing until seeing this. There’s even a reference to Kesha being inspired to write her song “Supernatural” because of a sexual ghost encounter. Again, did not know that. This culminates in one of the most bizarre sex scenes ever filmed for a horror movie including Bride of Chucky and Scary Movie 2.

Overall, writer/director Roberto Doveris put a unique personalized spin on this ironic day in the life type of story that satirically turns Chile’s artistic life and society in general on its head. Upon doing my research I discovered that he’s allegedly experienced much of what takes place in this film. Phantom Project was shot in his home with the cast being filled out with mostly his friends. This explains the huge amount of chemistry among the actors as it really does feel like a close-knit group of friends having natural conversations.

That being said, the pacing is off because it’s an incredibly slow burn. Too much time is devoted to character development that doesn’t end up mattering. It becomes a complete mess with a meandering plot that’s all over the place. Phantom Project has too many plot points moving on from one to the next. It feels so random and inconsequential. I didn’t find it very funny, either. You can really feel the run time because the movie feels longer than 90 minutes. And remember, who’s Pablo gonna call?

6 out of 10