Film

Ghosted

Name: Ghosted
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Released: 2016
Cast: Alice Lowe, Christien Anholt, Ray Panthaki, Jason Flemyng, Jassa Ahluwalia

Other titles called Ghosted: the 2023 film.

A sharp, witty short film about a widow trying to date while her unfaithful ghost husband sabotages every encounter. It's a clever high-concept comedy that uses supernatural mischief to explore grief, resentment, and the messy business of moving on. Perfect if you want something funny and inventive that doesn't overstay its welcome.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love deadpan comedy that treats a ridiculous premise with total seriousness, and you enjoy the squirm of a first date that refuses to go to plan.

Skip it if the jokes are dry and the whole thing is a sketch, so if you want room to settle into characters or big set pieces, it will feel slight.

What it asks of you: it runs about eleven minutes and moves quickly, so there is no time to ease in; give it your full attention and let its brisk pace carry you.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Always1989

Spielberg's romantic comedy about a pilot who dies and returns as a ghost to guide his grieving lover toward a new life. It shares the same bittersweet tone: spectral interference born from love, complicated by jealousy and the need to let go.

But Moves slowly and leans heavily into sentimentality; the supernatural elements feel less like plot mechanics and more like excuses for earnest emotional beats.

Ghostland2018

Family trauma and psychological horror wrapped in a genre story. Both explore how the past refuses to stay buried and how resentment lingers. Ghosted does it with comedy; this does it with genuine dread—same skeleton, different mood.

But Genuinely disturbing in places; it's a hard film that doesn't look away from its horror.

A Ghost Story2017

Meditative, strange film about a ghost unable to leave the house where his life was lived, watching his widow move on. Shares the premise of a spectral presence attached to a grieving partner, but approaches it with philosophy and strangeness rather than laughs.

But Deliberately paced, conceptual, and melancholy; nothing like the zippy comedy of Ghosted, and some will find it pretentious or slow.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Ghosted

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Made for Each Other1939

Both treat the obstacle to romance as internal rather than external—not a rival, but unresolved grief and expectation.

Carole Lombard and James Stewart as newlyweds navigating money, family pressure, and the gap between romantic fantasy and actual partnership. Ghosted is about a widow sabotaged by her past; this is about two people discovering their past assumptions are sabotaging their future. Both use comedy to ask: how do you actually stay attached?

But Screwball pacing and 1930s sensibilities; some will find it dated or too earnest for modern tastes.

Defending Your Life1991

Albert Brooks' film about a man who dies and must defend his choices in the afterlife, discovering unexpected connection. It's warm, funny, and genuinely interested in how love survives death and what we owe each other after it.

But Concept-heavy and occasionally preachy; the philosophical questions sometimes override the comedy.

Just Like Heaven2005

Woman in a coma haunts her apartment; a living man moves in and falls for her. Ghosted reverses this and makes the dead person the problem; this one finds the romance in supernatural entanglement and does it with genuine warmth and charm.

But Skews sentimental and predictable; the supernatural setup is treated earnestly rather than mined for comic contradiction.

Ring1998

A dead thing that won't let the living move forward, tethering them to an inescapable past.

Japanese horror about a cursed videotape that kills anyone who watches it. The supernatural intrusion is utterly serious here, but structurally identical: a presence from the past that attaches itself to the living and ruins their future. It's Ghosted with the comedy removed and the dread cranked to maximum.

But Genuinely frightening and bleak; trading laughs for existential horror is the whole point, and if you want to feel safe at the end, this isn't it.

The Comedy2012

Both centre on someone whose presence corrupts the romantic possibilities of another, and both ask whether intimacy is even possible when one party is fundamentally committed to sabotage.

Tim Heidecker in a mumblecore nightmare about a directionless man whose alienation poisons every relationship. Like Ghosted, it's about someone sabotaging intimacy, but here the sabotage is social cruelty and spiritual emptiness rather than spectral mischief. Bleak where Ghosted is funny, but asking identical questions about who gets to love you when you're broken.

But Difficult, uncomfortable, often unwatchable by design; the comedy is cruel and the character is repellent. It demands you sit with something you don't like.