‘Dancing with Ghosts’ (2018) is one of those movies with a premise that sounds much more interesting than the film itself ends up being. Dong Jae works as a male prostitute for lonely women at night, but he also happens to be haunted, quite literally, by the ghost of Yoo Jin, his old crush. After appearing in his dreams, Yoo Jin suddenly shows up in real life with a rather unusual request: she needs to sleep with him once so she can move on to the afterlife.
The problem is that Dong Jae doesn’t exactly want to let her go. Yoo Jin was someone he had a crush on when she was alive, and he’s spent years dreaming about finally seeing her again. Now that she’s actually there, the idea of sleeping with her and potentially losing her for good is understandably not very appealing to him. This creates a strange little romantic dilemma that gives the movie most of its story.
There are some surprisingly touching moments here, particularly when the film focuses on Dong Jae and Yoo Jin’s feelings for each other and the idea of finally having to say goodbye to someone you never really got over. Those moments give the movie a little more emotional weight than you might expect going in.
That said, the film doesn’t really do a whole lot with its premise. There are plenty of opportunities to explore the characters and their situation more deeply, but it mostly stays on the surface. It’s also not particularly groundbreaking, and by the time the credits rolled, I didn’t feel like I had seen anything especially memorable.
Still, it does have a few funny moments, and the unusual setup makes it easy enough to watch when you just want something to distract yourself for a while. It’s not a movie I’d necessarily rush to recommend, but it’s also not a bad way to spend an hour or so.
Overall, ‘Dancing with Ghosts’ is an okay watch. It has a quirky premise, a couple of surprisingly sweet moments and enough comedy to give you a laugh or two, but ultimately it doesn’t offer all that much beyond that. Sometimes that’s perfectly fine — if you’re looking for something light to switch your brain off with for a bit, this will do the job.
