GHOSTING GLORIA IS SPOOKY SPICE @FANTASIA 2021

You got to love the diversity of films at Fantasia International Film Festival held in the Montreal every summer. This year’s slate has proven to be just as hot as any year’s past even during the pandemic. Ghosting Gloria (Muerto con Gloria) from writer director Mauro Sauser who co-directed with Marcela Matta are back at it after teaming up for Los Modernas in 2016. It is one of those films that you thought you would never see on Fantasia’s slate. But its so sleek and engaging that it surely does belong.

Who is Gloria?

Gloria is played by Stefania Tortorella who plays a single thirty-something woman who works at a bookstore. She has not experienced an orgasm in her life. Her love life is non-existent and it is beggining to give her anxiety. Her good friend and co-worker Sandra played by Nenan Pelenur is trying to give her advice. This entails on how to pick up men and being more aggressive in getting sex. This humourous exchange between the two would have the audience relate to their conversations. You are either Sandra who is getting it all the time or Gloria who isn’t.

Things just keep on getting worse for Gloria as she lives below a couple who are sex crazed bunnies. She listens to them fornicate every night while she is trying to get shut eye. Her lack of sleep is making her lose focus on work and above all her life. She ends up renting out her flat and taking the one below her. This should get Gloria the rest that she deserves. But what do you know there is a ghost in the apartment!

Who is this Ghost?

Gloria begins to have an avid affair with the ghost who is fullfilling her sexual desires. The sex scenes are comedic and intense as you can see that she finally getting banged like never before. The audience is reminded of Paul Verhoeven’s “The Hollow Man” when this ghost gets it on with Gloria. As supernatural as it may seem, it does put Gloria into a fantasy world of love and romance. Being an expert on authors of romance, Gloria is in the relationship she has always dreamed of. The ghost does not talk back at her, it does whatever she wants and her sexual desires are always fulfilled.

Isn’t this crazy?

Gloria does tell her tale to Sandra and at first she is not having it. Sandra starts to think that Gloria is crazy and that she should go see a doctor. Gloria does but this romance with the ghost continues. This further continues Sandra’s and Gloria comedic exchange in their friendship. The character of Sandra is so key in the film which reminds you a bit of Rizzo from Grease. She is a realist and gets the job done. If it wan’t for Nenan Pelenur acting chops, there would not be any depth at all to Gloria’s dreamy in her own world nature.

Ghosting Gloria reminds us all is that it can be quite difficult to get out of a romantic rut. Gloria had many expectations of what a relationship should be like and she kept her vision. The affair with the supernatural taught her that her goals for a relationship were not that far off. Despite Sandra’s influence, she still manages to pull it off.

Nevertheless, both directors Matta and Sauser keep this film grounded in this genre mashup. Despite Gloria’s dreamy perception and spooky yet highly erotic encounter, the film does not sway too far from being too corny or kooky. All elements of the film are positioned well which makes Ghosting Gloria a modern romantic film.