Writers: Clay Tatum and Whitmer Thomas
Director: Clay Tatum
Clay Tatum and Whitmer Thomas release their buddy ghost movie The Civil Dead in cinemas and on digital platforms, an unusual dead pan domestic comedy-horror that borrows from the style of 1970s Woody Allen-like movies for its awkward interaction between two from high school friends who get to know one another again. A very male film in many ways about having little purpose in modern life, time on your hands and the loneliness of urban societies but not necessarily wanting your life to change either.
Moving into a new home Clay and wife Whitney are a little spooked by their new environment but when Whitney goes away for the weekend, Clyde runs into Whit and struggles to shake the friendship. When Clay discovers Whit is a ghost and only he can see Whit, his new spectral friend proves even harder to escape from.
Tatum and Thomas’ co-written film has the feeling of improvisation, a series of extended duologues in which the central pair can explore the evolution of their connection – Whit clinging to Clay as his only possibility for interaction while Clay becomes increasingly irritated by having to be the ghost’s only entertainment. And there is plenty of mileage in the concept which, across the film, develops the relationship as they become more used to one another, and the situation starts to frustrate Clay.
As director, Tatum paces the story well, inserting some faster-paced sections involving other characters as Clay tries to capitalise on Whit’s invisibility, yet The Civil Dead never quite gets beneath the surface of Clay, a character who holds a sense of superiority despite being a ‘loser’ as Whit terms him. One of the film’s frustrations is the apparent unevenness of the relationship between the two men when Clay himself is rude, largely uninterested in Whit’s story and spends much of the time in a drunken fug, dragging his mattress into the living room because the wife’s away and he can behave like a sulky teenager – why she seems devoted to him or why Whit is so keen to be friends with him is never clear and slightly undermines the premise.
Playing the leads, the co-writers inhabit their characters convincingly and develop a natural chemistry on screen that adds to their interaction. There is very little for wife Whitney Weir to do, however, and the whole film seems to take place in a vacuum, emphasising their loneliness perhaps, but still in a world where having no job, wandering aimlessly from day to day with no boss or rules and drinking heavily without consequences is a rewarding and aspirational lifestyle choice.
There is a lot to like about the filming style and the scenarios Tatum and Thomas have created, an unusual set-up that doesn’t take the audience exactly where you would expect when an overly friendly ghost can’t take a hint.
The Civil Dead is in select cinemas and on demand 19 January 2024.