The enigmatic eponymous phrase, “light from light,” is found the Nicene Creed: “God from God, light from light, true God from true God.” It’s a statement about Christology, how the Son of God is both fully human and fully divine in one person, the invisible God made visible in the person of Christ. This incarnational mystery, the interconnection of flesh and spirit, is also an underlying theme of Paul Harrill’s radiant ghost story. The mysteries of spiritual realms are made manifest in the ordinariness of the material world. Lead actress Marin Ireland gives a wonderfully restrained performance as lonely ghost hunter Sheila, communicating a great deal of emotion through her eyes and posture rather than words as she tries to communicate with the dead. Jim Gaffigan also turns in an affecting performance as a grieving widower who seeks Sheila’s help in discerning whether or not his deceased wife’s presence still resides in their Tennessee countryside home. In my original review, I described Light from Light as “anatheistic,” a term from philosopher Richard Kearney meaning “God after God.” What do we do when our conceptions of God are upended or overturned, yet our faith in something (or Someone) transcendent haunts our minds and hearts? Harrill’s film addresses such existential spiritual questions with an indirectness and gentleness, which makes the final revelatory scenes all the more cathartic and affecting.
– Joel Mayward
- Directed by: Paul Harrill
- Produced by:
- Written by: Paul Harrill
- Music by: Adam Granduciel Jon Natchez
- Cinematography by: Greta Zozula
- Editing by: Courtney Ware
- Release Date: 2019
- Running Time: 82
- Language: English
Arts & Faith Lists:
2019 Top 10 — #10