Phantom Project (Proyecto Fantasma), the new Chilean film directed by Roberto Doveris is many things at once. It is a light-hearted comedy drama revolving around a queer character without the coming-of-age part. It is also a ghost story without the horror part. When these two shifting pieces come together under one umbrella, it transforms into an unexpected, mysterious spell of a film, unlike anything you’ve ever seen.
Think of A Ghost Story meets Weekend. In hindsight, the loose plot revolving around a handsome gay protagonist named Pablo (Juan Cano) trying to figure out his life feels like a chamber piece drama, but its structure gently shifts and accommodates change and interruption. It welcomes a ghost in the form of shapeshifting, animated white lines that finds a place in the apartment he stays.
Not all questions are answered in Phantom Project, as the film trusts its viewers to fill in the gaps by themselves. If you have been perplexed by the end of the film, you are not alone. This piece will try to inject some thought and reconsider the ending again. If you haven’t seen Phantom Project yet, do not go ahead as it contains spoilers that will ultimately ruin your experience of the film. Come back to this explainer after having seen the film. Happy reading!
Phantom Project Plot Summary and Movie Synopsis:
Phantom Project tracks the shy and reserved Pablo, who lives in Santiago, Chile. It begins with a quirky sequence of role-playing where he is the patient and some of the other acting school members have to figure out whether he is sexually active or not in order to prescribe him condoms. It establishes the key elements of the film superbly, as we will come to know the truth about Pablo’s sex drive and how it permeates the narrative fabric in an unusual fashion. Since Pablo has no job, he tales up these small acting roles and sublets his small apartment space to pay the bills.
Pablo is in desperate need of money to survive the rest of the month. His last roommate Hector has left the apartment without paying him the dues of the last two months and has left behind plants, an old cardigan, and a dog named Susan. He shows his sublet space to other people. He overhears the constant fights that take place downstairs between a couple. His friends come over on some days for a casual meeting. Between all this, something unusual begins to take place in the apartment.
The old, vintage cardigan that Hector left, turns out, begins to show a life of its own. It never stays on the hook and falls down immediately after being kept. There are also mysterious noises, of windows shutting, doors opening, and fruit baskets tripping over all by themselves, that Pablo recognizes to be the work of something beyond his grasp. Initially, he projects his anger on poor Susan, but he slowly discovers that there might be a ghost in his room that lingers around him, whose intentions are not quite clear yet. This ghost is marked with white, shapeshifting lines across the room. It is in the animated shape of a human figure, devoid of any face or identity. It collapses and disappears into the room and reappears all the time.
Then again, Pablo discovers that his entire back is covered with bruises. He is increasingly distant from his friends, and to an extent, from himself, still figuring out what he wants to do ahead. His feelings for his ex-boyfriend Francisco (Fernando Castillo), who has now become quite the Youtube sensation, are still far from over. During a conversation with his friends, he comes to know that there are sexual urges that exist in the form of spirits, and it is not always that the spirit belongs to someone else- it might just be an extension of who we imagine ourselves to be as well. Or it might be a projection. That night, he again hears the noise in his apartment and undresses himself in bed. The spirit seems to envelop itself around him as he moans in his bed and has an orgasm.
At another audition, he shows sparkling chemistry with an established actress named Antonia (Ingrid Isensee). Pablo gets the part. She sees the jacket that Pablo has on, and is fascinated by its warm, vintage feel. She even wears the jacket before a shot. The film ends on an unusual note after a shot is cut, and the jacket is kept at the hook by a crew member. It falls down again.
Phantom Project Movie Review:
Phantom Project is a confident debut feature by writer-director Roberto Doveris that serves as a part ghost story, part queer existential drama. Cinematographer Patricio Alfaro shoots the interiors of Pablo’s white, pastel-hued apartment from a distance as if there’s something we are still far away from. Even as the cryptic title of the film withholds any clue about the ways in which the ghost creeps up in the narrative, Doveris cleverly does away with any unnecessary horror elements to shake up the tidings. As meandering some might find the conversational approach to the storytelling, makes for an immensely watchable testament of a generation unaware of its own place in the world. Like the ghost, Pablo is constantly in search of something- either means to survive the month or just the sense of pleasure that he misses having in a relationship.
The only part that feels a little half-baked is the overall impact of the spirit itself. Phantom Project is not interested in revelations, as any expectations on how the ghost story manifests itself, in reality, will not be met with satisfaction. The spirit is just there, moving and touching the lives around him, but its connections to the characters are never fully chalked out. The ennui in Pablo’s life is perhaps manifested in the spirit, although the indication is not given any specific direction. There’s a sensitivity that proceeds along with the dilemma, and Doveris trust his viewers to fill in the gaps by themselves. As Pablo, Juan Cano is refreshing and restrained- we believe in his controlled projection of self and stay as he steadily navigates his emotions. This is a superb film, fascinating in its visual style and daring in its ambition.
Phantom Project Movie Ending, Explained:
Whose spirit follows Pablo?
The white lines of the shapeshifting ghost that appear in the apartment of Pablo seem to want a connection with him. It is more of an emotional intelligence that Pablo seeks, through his body, and the pleasure that he wishes to receive from his partners. The spirit seems to understand that void in Pablo’s life and gives him that pleasure when he has an orgasm one night. The marks on his body bear an uncanny resemblance to someone pressing against him. The identity does not matter at that moment, or so the film tries to say.
At the end, when Antonia is attracted to Pablo, she notices that cardigan and wears it during rehearsal. She also develops this quick, easy chemistry with Pablo, born out of an audition that involves physical intimacy. Even as the sequence is in action and a gun is fired, nothing unexpected occurs. Everyone is safe and okay – this is a ghost that wants no destruction. It holds no vengeance but wishes peace and acceptance. The old cardigan falls again when it is kept on the hook. Perhaps it knows that there is so much work to be done still.
![Julieta [2016] : The silence of guilt](https://www.highonfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Julieta2.jpg)
![The Wailing [2016]: Killing them diabolically](https://www.highonfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/vlcsnap-2016-07-30-20h35m11s194-768x432.png)
