A Useful Ghost is a new fantasy black comedy that premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Written & directed by Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, the film stars Davika Hoorne, Witsarut Himmarat, Apasiri Nitibhon, Wanlop Rungkumjud, and Wisarut Homhuan. March is mourning his wife Nat who has recently passed away due to dust pollution. He discovers her spirit has returned by possessing the vacuum cleaner. Being disturbed by a ghost that appeared after a worker’s death shut down their factory, his family reject the unconventional human-ghost relationship. Trying to convince them of their love, Nat offer to cleanse the factory. To become a useful ghost, she must first get rid of the useless ones.

Based on the synopsis alone, I still didn’t know what I was going to get myself into, but it sounded wild enough to watch. In a world where we crave originality, this one fits perfectly within that. The concept alone sounds like something A24 would make. If the film becomes popular enough, I am sure someone is set to remake this. The problem that comes from this is that I don’t think the weirdness will attract everyone. If you are open to something that’s weird, funny, and thematic, I highly encourage anyone to check this one out.

The film wastes no time getting you right into this concept. Knowing there was still about 2 hours ahead of me, I was surprised by how quickly the film jumps into things. The way technology acts like a ghost and moves is impressive on a practical level. It also speaks on our obsession and acceptance of technology that we will depend on it if it meant bringing back our loved one. That’s a theme that is better explored than David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds. While all the performances are great, it’s Davika Hoorne as Nat who steals the show.

To achieve this thematic message, the film shows certain individual perspectives, showing whether they say a deceased loved or simply just a moving vacuum. While it may sound silly in hindsight, writer & director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke executes this by giving every single character depth, making it quite easy to connect with every character. That’s not to say it always works. There are some plot lines that I think I could have done without. With a 2 hour and 10 minute runtime, the slow burn nature already makes the film feel longer than what it is. Sticking with the main couple would have improved the pacing and runtime.

Even with such emotional themes and silly concepts, the film embraces the concept with humor and leans into it. The way other characters interact with the technology can make for some good humor to help break how dark the film can get. While the first half leans heavier in the humor, the humor takes a backseat in the second half that subverts expectations and gives one wild conclusion.

How wild the conclusion gets might be an understatement. It’s deeply satisfying and helps get its whole point across. It’s also incredibly satisfying. If you were to tell me that’s where it ends based on where it begins, I wouldn’t believe you. For that, I could easily see this doing well in theaters. Hopefully, the U.S. can get on board with that.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed A Useful Ghost with the way it embraces its humor and tackles its plot. Davika Hoorne gives a tremendous performance and Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke proves to be an effective filmmaker that I’d like to see more of. The slow burn nature and other plot points weren’t quite for me, but I still loved how the film ended, making everything before worth watching.

VERDICT: 3.5/5 (Pretty Good)