The most memorable ghost stories deal with loss and loneliness. In recent years, we have seen A Ghost Story and The Others as outstanding examples. The Witch in the Window isn't quite in that league, but given its modest budget, it still manages to be a superior addition to the genre.
Great ghost stories very often also include houses. So it is that a middle aged father and his teenage son begin renovating a country house in Vermont, only to start to sense that something isn't quite right - from strange smells to eerie bumps in the walls and fleeting glimpses of someone else - a woman - who seems to have come with the purchase. Then there is the neighbour who imparts the house's uneasy local reputation and the rumours about its previous owner, Lydia...
This is an economical (78 minutes) film from writer-director, Andy Mitton, that is assured enough to let its tale unfold through character and mood, without relying on jump scares and J-horror-style imagery and conventions. In lesser hands, it would fall flat. The camera lingers on naturally-lit aspects of the house and the landscape, tinkling and pensive piano underscores the isolation and quietude of the mist and the raindrops and, most importantly, the nuances of the relationship between father and son provide its backbone.
When we first meen teenage Finn, his mother is handing him over to his estranged father, Simon, listing the aspects in the modern world that make it difficult to parent well and maintain a good relationship with your child. Simon, who has his own battles with isolation, is also doubtful about his relationship with Finn ("I've managed to get you on the wrong side of 12!"), but as conversations and events unfold at the house, his love and commitment to bridging the emotional gulf become clear. This relationship is beautifully drawn in the script, with the very natural performances from both actors providing the emotional investment necessary for us to care about what happens to them. In particular, as a teenage character, Finn is well and unusually honestly written, with a thoroughly believable and moving performance by Charlie Tacker to flesh him out.
This film works so well because the loneliness of the broken son-father-mother relationship is revealed gently in the story, set against our increasing hope that it may heal, while an equally lonely force in the house seems to be setting out to threaten it. The end result is surprising, slightly unusual and often unexpected. Its conclusion is perhaps a bit less well executed than the lead up would have you expect, but it leaves you with a sad, haunting feeling, which is surely what an effective ghost story should do!
