MOVIE REVIEW The films of Kelly O'Sullivan and Alex Thompson are rare cinematic gems: simple but deeply felt portraits of people trying to do right by themselves and finding profound connections with others and within themselves along the way. The Chicago-based filmmakers and life partners made their feature debut in 2020 with "Saint Frances," written by and starring O'Sullivan, directed by Thompson, about an aimless 30-something finding a friend in the 6-year-old she's nannying. Their second feature is "Ghostlight," which they co-directed from a script by O'Sullivan, a similarly smallscale indie family drama with a huge heart that fearlessly tackles the kind of big feelings that can seem impossible to manage.
As it's a family affair behind the camera, it is in front of the lens, too. O'Sullivan long had Chicago theater actor Keith Kupferer in mind for the lead role of Dan, a construction worker who stumbles into a community-theater production of "Romeo and Juliet" during a time of personal turmoil, and Kupferer so happens to have an actor daughter, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, and partner, Tara Mallen, a stalwart of the Chicago theater scene, who slot perfectly into the roles of Dan's fiery daughter Daisy and wife, Sharon. With such close-knit family ties making up the production, "Ghostlight" is a film of uncommon intimacy, though that kind of comfortable knowingness and care is so far a feature of O'Sullivan and Thompson's work.
The pair make films refreshingly populated by .
