Netflix’s new addition We Have a Ghost silences Stranger Things star David Harbour for 2 hours – and the macAt 1 on Netflix: Stranger Things star David Harbour saves new
Netflix’s new entry We Have a Ghost silences Stranger Things star David Harbour for 2 hours – and that actually makes the fantasy film a whole lot better.
We Have a Ghost joined Netflix on 24 February 2023 and currently sits at 1 on the movie charts there. The fantasy family comedy presents itself like so many Netflix films: neither really good, nor terribly bad, a bit entertaining and somehow forgettable. If it weren’t for this one thing: Stranger Things star David Harbour is in it and doesn’t say a single word throughout the entire film. Which actually enhances We Have A Ghost.
Without words: David Harbour’s silence elevates We Have a Ghost above the Netflix average
We Have A Ghost tells a classic haunted story: Kevin (Jahi Di’Allo Winston) moves with his parents and brother into an old house where a ghost already resides: Ernest (David Harbour). After the initial shock, the family, especially Kevin’s father Frank (Anthony Mackie), uses the transparent lodger to achieve success in social media. Which eventually brings the CIA into the picture.
View Netflix’s fantasy trailer for We Have a Ghost starring David Harbour here
David Harbour has perfected the grumpy Sheriff Jim Hopper in Stranger Things. The click from Netflix’s hit series to Netflix’s new fantasy comedy is not far. The pleasant difference between series and film, however, is that here the actor can let off steam emotionally in a completely new way: namely, silently.
In the world of We Have a Ghost, a ghost is unable to vocally produce more than a groan. Which forces ghost Ernest to communicate with his teenage reference figure Kevin in a different way. The Netflix film uses this not infrequently in a humorous way, but in the important moments it goes surprisingly to the heart with its one-sided non-verbal relationship.
David Harbour goofy
While David Harbour’s bald comb-over hairstyle could easily tip the spirit into the ridiculous. That this doesn’t happen is quite an achievement. One that not every Netflix film manages, if we think back to Jason Mormoa’s oddball in Slumberland, for example. But instead of becoming a figure of fun, Ernest, who has seriousness in his very name, even becomes the antithesis of goofball humour – a supernatural presence that grounds the film.
Netflix and the art of omission: We Have a (silent) Ghost
Watching the running time of Netflix’s We Have a Ghost, it’s hard to believe at first that director Christopher Landon (Happy Deathday) left anything out of his film. 2 hours and 6 minutes is definitely too long for a family comedy of this kind. But at least with main character Ernest, the film understands that omissions can add something. And David Harbour finds that certain something in his role.
David Harbour
My art teacher used to say that omitting a main colour makes a picture better. Instead of being motley, it makes it more precise. The Netflix film We Have a Ghost has done the same for the human (or ghostly) senses. Because Ernest has to do without his language as a means of contact, character building shifts entirely to gestures and facial expressions.
This begins amusingly, when David Harbour exaggeratedly waves his hands in the attic and wants to be the spitting image of a ghost, and mainly takes place in the quiet moments, when his true emotional life is expressed in slumped shoulders, sad looks and a furrowed brow.
What the Stranger Things star expresses on his face can take you by surprise.
We Have a Ghost may not be made for long-term memory. There are even a few cinematic lapses (keyword: melting face) that are better forgotten quickly. But David Harbour’s silent performance adds an unexpectedly impressive role to his filmography. And that somehow makes the Netflix fantasy outing worthwhile in the end.
actually makes the fantasy film that much better.
We Have a Ghost joined Netflix on 24 February 2023 and currently sits at 1 on the movie charts there. The fantasy family comedy presents itself like so many Netflix films: neither really good, nor terribly bad, a bit entertaining and somehow forgettable. If it weren’t for this one thing: Stranger Things star David Harbour is in it and doesn’t say a single word throughout the entire film. Which actually enhances We Have A Ghost.
Without words: David Harbour’s silence elevates We Have a Ghost above the Netflix average
We Have A Ghost tells a classic haunted story: Kevin (Jahi Di’Allo Winston) moves with his parents and brother into an old house where a ghost already resides: Ernest (David Harbour). After the initial shock, the family, especially Kevin’s father Frank (Anthony Mackie), uses the transparent lodger to achieve success in social media. Which eventually brings the CIA into the picture.
View Netflix’s fantasy trailer for We Have a Ghost starring David Harbour here
David Harbour has perfected the grumpy Sheriff Jim Hopper in Stranger Things. The click from Netflix’s hit series to Netflix’s new fantasy comedy is not far. The pleasant difference between series and film, however, is that here the actor can let off steam emotionally in a completely new way: namely, silently.
In the world of We Have a Ghost, a ghost is unable to vocally produce more than a groan. Which forces ghost Ernest to communicate with his teenage reference figure Kevin in a different way. The Netflix film uses this not infrequently in a humorous way, but in the important moments it goes surprisingly to the heart with its one-sided non-verbal relationship.
David Harbour goofy
While David Harbour’s bald comb-over hairstyle could easily tip the spirit into the ridiculous. That this doesn’t happen is quite an achievement. One that not every Netflix film manages, if we think back to Jason Mormoa’s oddball in Slumberland, for example. But instead of becoming a figure of fun, Ernest, who has seriousness in his very name, even becomes the antithesis of goofball humour – a supernatural presence that grounds the film.
Netflix and the art of omission: We Have a (silent) Ghost
Watching the running time of Netflix’s We Have a Ghost, it’s hard to believe at first that director Christopher Landon (Happy Deathday) left anything out of his film. 2 hours and 6 minutes is definitely too long for a family comedy of this kind. But at least with main character Ernest, the film understands that omissions can add something. And David Harbour finds that certain something in his role.
David Harbour
My art teacher used to say that omitting a main colour makes a picture better. Instead of being motley, it makes it more precise. The Netflix film We Have a Ghost has done the same for the human (or ghostly) senses. Because Ernest has to do without his language as a means of contact, character building shifts entirely to gestures and facial expressions.
This begins amusingly, when David Harbour exaggeratedly waves his hands in the attic and wants to be the spitting image of a ghost, and mainly takes place in the quiet moments, when his true emotional life is expressed in slumped shoulders, sad looks and a furrowed brow.
What the Stranger Things star expresses on his face can take you by surprise.
We Have a Ghost may not be made for long-term memory. There are even a few cinematic lapses (keyword: melting face) that are better forgotten quickly. But David Harbour’s silent performance adds an unexpectedly impressive role to his filmography. And that makes the Netflix fantasy excursion somehow worthwhile in the end.
