A review by Nalini Haynes
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Ghosts with shit jobs is a speculative fiction mockumentary, set in a world where China is a developed country and ‘ghosts’ – white people – have shit jobs like assembly-line cottage industry jobs and scavenging scrap for sale.
Gary and Karen assemble realistic baby dolls for the wealthy in China. Their jobs are a grueling cross between a nightmare crèche and assembly line.
Oscar is a digital janitor, covering up logos in the beta version of an immersive virtual reality world where people can visit the past.
Anton and Toph are brothers whose scavenging job is collecting giant mutant spider silk, which they sell for drinking water. They eat squirrels they capture themselves.
Serina is human spam, employed by a Nigerian Cartel.
These role flips work brilliantly, especially when viewers are confronted with people living in shanties (make-shift shelters) and the sex industry, just as we might watch on our white-privileged documentaries these days.
Vodo sent Dark Matter Zine a review copy. Their downloadable version of Ghosts with Shit Jobs has a choice of language options. Towards the end of the movie there seemed to be a very slight synching issue with voices and picture but the dialogue was crisp and clear all the way through.
Humorous and poignant, Ghosts with Shit Jobs is a thought-provoking blend between science fiction, social comment and character. It is a welcome break from Hollywood movies. Like genuine documentaries, Ghosts explores its subject matter thoroughly. Not as well-paced as it could be, Ghosts dwells on characters while exploring possibilities in this near-future world. It’s well worth the 94 minutes.
3 1/2 out of 5 starsOther reviews
Moria likens Ghosts with Shit Jobs to some of William Gibson’s work.
Moria says:
In Munroe’s own words, Ghosts With Shit Jobs was made on a budget of $4000 (raised through a crowdsourcing campaign) and with borrowed equipment – if you didn’t know this, the film comes with a slickness of polish that looks as though it was made for far more than that.
Bernard Boo rates Ghosts as 6.2 out of 10
The film has moments of brilliance, but these moments are fleeting and soon-forgotten.