Ghosts of War (2020 film)
A war horror film with a virtual reality twist.
Ghosts of War is a 2020 British film that combines supernatural horror with war drama. It was written and directed by Eric Bress. The cast includes Brenton Thwaites, Theo Rossi, Skylar Astin, Kyle Gallner, and Alan Ritchson. The movie first became available on DirecTV on 18 June 2020.
The story follows five American soldiers stationed at a French chateau during World War II. They soon believe the building is haunted by the spirits of a family murdered there by German troops. But a major twist reveals the soldiers are actually present-day military personnel. They are inside a virtual reality simulation meant to help them recover from a traumatic event in Afghanistan. The ghosts they encounter are not from the past; they are the spirits of an Afghan family the soldiers failed to save.
The plot begins in 1944 as Allied forces push through France. Five soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division are ordered to guard a chateau. On the way, they ambush German soldiers in a captured American jeep, killing them all. They also meet a group of Jewish refugees. When they reach the chateau, the previous guards leave in a hurry. The commanding officer, Chris, hears a repetitive banging from the fireplace. Another soldier, Eugene, translates it as Morse code spelling "I have no legs."
Eugene finds a German soldier’s journal describing how the chateau’s owners, the Helwig family, were murdered for hiding Jews. The father was burned alive, the daughter hanged, and the son drowned in a bathtub. As Eugene translates another Morse message, his hand moves on its own to write "If you leave, you die."
That night, a German patrol attacks. The soldiers fight them off, but one of them, Butchie, is fatally wounded when he jumps on a grenade. The men see some Germans killed by invisible forces in the same way the Helwigs died. Before dying, Butchie insists the experience isn’t real and tells Chris to "remember."
The survivors leave the chateau, but they repeat the same events from their journey there, including the jeep ambush and meeting the refugees. Believing they are cursed, they return to bury the Helwigs’ remains. An invisible force drags Chris to an outhouse where the bodies are hidden. After burying them, Eugene checks the journal again. The text is no longer German but Arabic, and the Helwigs are now described as Afghan.
The men are attacked by spirits. One tries to drown
- Release
- 18 June 2020 (DirecTV); 17 July 2020 (virtual cinema, On Demand, digital)
- Director
- Eric Bress
- Cast
- Brenton Thwaites, Theo Rossi, Skylar Astin, Kyle Gallner, Alan Ritchson
- Genre
- Supernatural horror war film
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Runtime
- Not specified in source
- Rotten Tomatoes
- 38% positive (40 critics)
Lore & Background
The film's plot centers on five U.S. soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division in 1944 France, assigned to guard a chateau. They encounter supernatural phenomena linked to the Helwig family, murdered by Germans. After a German attack, one soldier dies, and the survivors realize they are trapped in a loop. They eventually discover the chateau's buried bodies and, upon burying them, the simulation breaks, revealing they are modern soldiers in a PTSD treatment program. Their real mission in Afghanistan involved failing to save an Afghan family, the Helwigs, who were slaughtered by Islamic State militants. The mother's dying curse forces them to relive the trauma.
Reader's Guide
Ghosts of War received mixed to negative reviews, with a 38% approval on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 38, indicating generally unfavorable reception. Critics noted its blend of supernatural horror and war drama as muddled, with generic scares and tonal shifts. The film's twist—revealing the soldiers are in a virtual reality simulation—was seen as ambitious but poorly executed. Despite this, it offers a unique take on PTSD and guilt, using a historical setting to explore modern trauma. The film's production in Sofia, Bulgaria, and its release during the pandemic via DirecTV and virtual cinema reflect changing distribution models.
Did You Know?
- The film was shot in Sofia, Bulgaria, using Vrana Palace as the chateau.
- The plot twist reveals the soldiers are modern-day troops in a virtual reality simulation, not World War II soldiers.
- The Helwig family's murder methods (burning, hanging, drowning) mirror the soldiers' own traumatic experience in Afghanistan.
- The film's title, Ghosts of War, refers to both the supernatural ghosts and the psychological ghosts of trauma.
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