Part of: 2025 Nellie Wong Magic of Movies Essay Contest
A Deep Personal Reflection about the Short Film Why Can’t We Just Be Ghosts?
Why Can’t We Just Be Ghosts? is a short film that had a huge emotional impact on me. It’s a story that follows a ghost who is dealing with sadness and confusion, trying to make sense of life and what it means to exist. The ghost and his friend talk about things like loneliness, identity, and the fear of not knowing who you are. It’s not just a story about ghosts-it’s a story about being human. Watching this film made me feel so many emotions that I didn’t even expect. It felt like I was looking into a mirror and seeing all the thoughts and feelings I usually keep inside.
What I loved most about this film was how deeply I connected to it on a personal level. From the beginning, I felt like the story was speaking directly to me. The main ghost in the film reminded me of myself, thoughtful, sad, and full of questions about life. He didn’t know who he was, and he was afraid of being alone or feeling like he didn’t belong. Those are all things I’ve felt before, and still feel today. Seeing those emotions on screen made me realize that I’m not the only one who struggles with those thoughts.
This film stood out from every other film I’ve seen because of how real it felt. A lot of movies try to cover up pain with humor or happy endings, but this one didn’t. It embraced the sadness and made it feel okay. It showed that you don’t always have to be happy to be alive, you can be confused, sad, and still trying to figure things out, and that’s completely valid. What made it special to me was that it didn’t try to fix the character or give him a simple answer. It just let him feel. And that made me feel like it’s okay to be exactly where I am right now.
There are a lot of experiences in my own life that this film reminded me of. I’ve struggled with mental health, and I’ve had moments where I felt like I didn’t know who I was or what I wanted to become. I’ve felt invisible, like I was drifting through life like a ghost. Sometimes I feel lonely even when I’m surrounded by people. Watching this short film brought those feelings to the surface, but instead of making me feel worse, it made me feel understood. It touched my soul in a way that few things ever have. It even made me cry, not because it was sad, but because it was so true to what I’ve felt for a long time.
The character that I connected with the most was the main ghost. Everything he said, everything he felt, it all just hit me. His sadness, his confusion, his need to feel like he mattered, it all felt like me. It was like someone took all of my hidden emotions and turned them into a story. That connection made me feel less alone. It showed me that there are people out there who understand what it’s like to be lost inside your head.
The biggest lesson I learned from this film is that it’s okay to not be okay. It’s okay to cry, to break down, and to feel lonely sometimes. You don’t need to have everything figured out right now. You just need to believe that one day, things will start to make sense. This film gave me that hope. I will truly never forget this story, because it reminded me that even when I feel invisible, I still matter.