''Blithe Spirit'' is a 2020 British

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Edward Hall Edward Hall ( – ) was an English lawyer and historian, best known for his ''The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke''—commonly known as ''Hall's Chronicle''—first published in 1548. He was also sever ...

and starring

Dan Stevens Daniel Jonathan Stevens (born 10 October 1982) is a British actor and writer. He first drew international attention for his role as List of Downton Abbey characters#Matthew Crawley, Matthew Crawley in the ITV (TV network), ITV acclaimed period ...

Leslie Mann Leslie Jean Mann (born March 26, 1972) is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous films, including '' The Cable Guy'' (1996), '' George of the Jungle'' (1997), ''Big Daddy'' (1999), '' Knocked Up'' (2007), '' 17 Again'' (2009), '' Fun ...

Isla Fisher Isla Lang Fisher (; born 3 February 1976) is an Australian actress and author. Born to Scottish parents in Oman, she moved to Australia at age six where she began appearing in television commercials. Fisher came to prominence for her portrayal ...

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

, Emilia Fox,

Julian Rhind-Tutt Julian Alistair Rhind-Tutt (born 20 July 1967) is an English actor, best known for playing Dr "Mac" Macartney in the comedy television series ''Green Wing'' (2004–2006). Early life Rhind-Tutt was born in West Drayton, Middlesex, the youngest o ...

, Adil Ray,

Michele Dotrice Michele Dotrice (born 27 September 1948) is an English actress. She portrayed Betty Spencer, the long-suffering wife of Frank Spencer, portrayed by Michael Crawford, in the BBC sitcom '' Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'', which ran from 1973 to 1978 ...

, and

Aimee-Ffion Edwards Aimee-Ffion Edwards (born 21 November 1987) is a Welsh actress and singer. She is known for playing Sketch in '' Skins'', Esme Shelby in '' Peaky Blinders'', Sophie in '' Detectorists'' and Abi in '' Loaded''. She also had a starring voice rol ...

. The film was based upon the 1941 play of the same name by

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combina ...

, adapted for the screen by Nick Moorcroft, Meg Leonard, and Piers Ashworth. ''Blithe Spirit'' had its world premiere at the 2020 Mill Valley Film Festival, and was released in the United Kingdom on 15 January 2021. The film received generally negative reviews from critics.

Plot summary

Successful playwright Charles Condomine is suffering from depression and writer's block. After a performance by popular medium Madame Arcati ends in fiasco, as a kind of publicity act, the medium performs a private séance at Charles's home and accidentally summons the spirit of Elvira, his deceased first wife. Conflict follows as Elvira becomes jealous of Ruth, Charles's new wife, and attempts to drive her away. Charles now has to balance between the two women, and protect Ruth from Elvira as he is the only one who can actually see her.

Cast

Production

In May 2019, it was announced

, and

had joined the cast of the film, with

directing from a screenplay by Piers Ashworth, Meg Leonard and Nick Moorcroft. In June 2019,

, Emilia Fox, Dave Johns and

James Fleet James Edward Fleet (born 11 March 1952) is an English actor of theatre, radio and screen. He is most famous for his roles as the bumbling and well-meaning Tom in the 1994 British romantic comedy film '' Four Weddings and a Funeral'' and the dim- ...

joined the cast of the film.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

began near Sydney in June 2019.

Release

The film premiered on 8 October 2020 at the Mill Valley Film Festival, and was screened later in the same month at the

San Diego International Film Festival The San Diego International Film Festival (SDIFF) is an independent film festival in San Diego, California produced by the non-profit San Diego Film Foundation. The main event has traditionally been held annually in the autumn at venues in the ...

. The film was scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on 1 May 2020, but was delayed to 4 September 2020 because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. It was then further delayed to 25 December 2020. In November 2020, Sky acquired the British distribution rights, and the film was released on the

Sky Cinema Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema ...

channel on 15 January 2021. IFC Films distributed the film in the United States.

Home media

''Blithe Spirit'' was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on 26 April 2021 by

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...

under

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...

, which includes interviews from the cast and additional bonus features. The movie was released and distributed in the Nordic countries as ''My Better Halves''.

Reception

Box office

In its opening weekend in the United States, the film grossed $98,100 from 239 theaters. It was also the most-rented title on the

Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ...

's indie movie chart, and ninth overall.

Critical response

Review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reports an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: "An indifferent adaptation of classic source material, ''Blithe Spirit'' puts a star-studded cast through the motions without capturing the story's screwball spark." According to

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which sampled 16 critics and calculated a weighted average score of 26 out of 100, the film received "generally unfavorable reviews".

References

External links

* * {{amg movie, 725708 2020 comedy films 2020 films British fantasy comedy films British films based on plays British ghost films Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films set in 1937 Films set in England IFC Films films StudioCanal films 2020 directorial debut films 2020s English-language films 2020s British films 2020s French films