In writer/director Adam Stovall’s debut feature A Ghost Waits, we learn what happens after the stereotypical family breaks a lease to flee a haunted house. It begins with screams-- “she’s in my head!” and “Dreamed I was surrounded by clowns”--and ends with the finality of understanding: “Know why it’s so cheap to rent.” When they invariably leave, the leasing office needs to send someone in to do an inspection and itemize whatever needs to be fixed for the next renters.

In the house in A Ghost Waits’s case, the housing manager Neal (Adam Stovall) calls his trusty employee Jack (MacLeod Andrews) to do an inspection. This particular time finds Jack in a midst of a sort of existential crisis. His roach-infested apartment building is getting fumigated and he has nowhere to stay. One friend keeps sending him to voicemail. After helping another friend on the phone, she complains and ends the phone with a, “thanks again for your help! If I can ever help you, just let me know. Byeee!”

Even though he’s a little confused why the previous renters broke their lease suddenly, leaving all of their belongings behind, he sets to task, marking up the lights, cleaning toilets and performing all the maintenance work. He’s so focused on his work that he’s completely oblivious to the whispered sighs, slowly creaking doors and moved objects. While taking a break on the porch, the backyard shed door slowly creaaaaks open and...

“Note to self: fix shed.”

Jack’s alone and lonely. He’s the eternally and actually nice guy who goes out of his way to help others but never gets a break in return. The kind who says, “I hate people” only to immediately reprimand himself with a, “it’s not true. I don’t hate people.” With no place to sleep, he decides to camp out in the house. He finds a guitar and picks out a tune by Wussy while the ghost who we eventually learned is named Muriel (Natalie Walker) watches on, admiring his playing.

While he continues to be initially oblivious, that night he has weird dreams involving a metronome and creepy noises. Over the course of the next few days, it slowly dawns on him that he’s not alone in the house and has a sneaking suspicion that his mystery guest doesn’t want him there...Well, actually she tells him in a hilarious exchange:

“I like your singing,” Muriel’s non-corporeal voice says.
“Thank...you?” he bewilderedly responds.
“...you should do it elsewhere.”

Filmed in black and white, Stovall’s movie mixes horror with a romantic comedy by presenting two leads, each doing their respective jobs for all eternity, for no apparent reason other than it’s expected of them. Eventually Jack meets Muriel face to face and is filled with a million questions, much to Muriel’s chagrin. Because just like Jack is forced to prepare the house for new renters, Muriel is stuck in an endless bureaucratic cycle of getting rid of them, per her upper management led by Ms. Henry (Amanda Miller).

It’s like a romantic comedy version of Beetleguese’s bureaucratic nightmare.

A Ghost Waits lives on the strength of MacLeod’s complete likability and watchability. He lights up the screen with such presence that, even though the first 40 minutes is practically a one-man-show, I never really noticed. It’s the little things, like the way he gives life to a toilet to voice his frustrations with how used he feels. Or the heartbreaking way his “friends” keep ignoring him. He’s a man out-of-step with time.

While the script by director Adam Stovall (written by a story he came up with Matt Taylor) is a little over-stuffed with additions like Muriel’s unwanted coworker Rosie (Sydney Vollmer), it still succeeds at being incredibly charming. Too much is forced into the third act and I would have preferred a bit more focus on the burgeoning relationship between the ghostly Muriel and the living Jack. It builds to a beautiful, yet somewhat troubling, ending that, if taken out of context, is incredibly problematic. In the world of A Ghost Waits it feels romantic, but stripped of that notion it’s a triggering moment that feels icky being romanticized the way it is. I also am not sure that moment is “earned” in the film, regardless of the context. That said, it was a joy to watch MacLeod’s earnest performance as it contrasted with the more stoic and purposefully wooden turn by Natalie.

A mix of genuinely funny moments and dialogue help carry the film to a mostly satisfying conclusion.