Ghosts of the Ozarks

 Not long after the civil war, a young black doctor (Thomas Hobson) is invited by his uncle (Phil Morris) to a remote walled town somewhere in the Arkansas wilderness. The walls, he learns first-hand, are there to keep Ghosts out - big, barely-seen beasties that arrive wreathed in red fog and snatch people and take them off into the mists. The victims always appear later, often dismembered.)

 The ghosts are hard to accept for Thomas, who shares with his uncle a rational streak and a penchant for inventing (mostly realistic) steampunk-like inventions; But his uncle, who acts as mayor, and most of the residents treat them with almost religious awe, and have designed their society around them. Funnily enough, that's not the most unbelievable thing the young doctor finds on arrival at Norfolk: for its citizens, isolated from the world and united in fear, are completely and seamlessly racially integrated to a degree that Thomas had thought impossible even in the North.

 So he accepts the post of town medic and starts getting to know the town's roster of colorful personalities: Douglas (David Arquette), a recent inmigrant like himself; The butcher/pub owner (Tim Blake Nelson) and his piano-player wife (Angela Bettis); and Annie and William (Tara Perry and Joseph Ruud), a sibling duo of hunters who live outside the walls.

 As Thomas is increasingly beguiled by the seemingly utopian society - all trade is based on a sort of town scrip, one that seems to work for the people, as opposed to its appliation in historical mining towns - both ghost-slaughtered bodies and weird going-ons start to pile up.
 It's an interesting mystery that unfortunately has a pretty silly explanation.

Nelson's already played Bukowski, and this movie made me realize he'd make a good Nick Cave

 So no, it's not a perfect movie - it stumbles narratively, its pacing is a little off and while the solution to the puzzle it poses is slightly grounded on established plot elements, it's still kind of ridiculous. It's also distinctly lacking in the scares department. But you know what? There's so much to like here that it doesn't really matter. A ton of effort, care, and love have been lavished on almost every aspect of the movie - the sets, the music, the characters - and it really shines through.

 The characters are the main asset: they're all charming, interesting, and they all get cool little moments and at least some development. The acting varies - some of it's a little amateurish, but there's always the sense that everyone had a blast and gave it their all; Very enthusiastic, and it's kind of infectious. Tim Blake Nelson steals the show, with a very loud performance that makes his every scene a joy to watch. Angela Bettis doesn't get that much to do, but this enforces the Bettis rule (if she's in anything, it'll probably be at least worth a watch). They both get to sing here, too!

 They have a great script to work from (by Tara Perry, who plays one of the main characters, and co-director Jordan Wayne Long), rich with period detail, fun twists of phrase, and a potent, if simple, bit of social commentary - not of the sort that you may be expecting.

 Directors Matt Glass and the aforementioned Long keep things lively, stylish, and even throw in a cool montage and a lovely, folky musical number into the mix. Glass pulls triple duty, doing the cinematography and the (gorgeous) string-rich soundtrack. Long 'only' also does the production design, but given that the sets in the film are truly excellent and feel very practical and lived-in, I wouldn't go around calling him a slacker; He's aided by Holly Lander in art direction and Brianna Quick in costume design. Oh, and both directors also worked on the effects.
 The amount to which they've stretched what can't have been a lot of money is really impressive.

 It feels like a long-gestating labour of love through and through, which it might as well be given that it's based on a 2016 short and that the cast and crew have worked together throughout several projects since. But that's besides the point: The result is a cool, ambitious genre mish-mash that's interesting, thoroughly entertaining and pretty damn original. Even if it falters as horror, or doesn't tell the most compelling of stories, it's still worth celebrating.