Good Grief

Death is something that absolutely terrifies me. Whether it's a friend, family member, pet, or even myself, I can't stand the thought that death comes for all of us. So when I got the urge to write and direct an autumnal horror film, death seemed like a good starting point.
I decided to focus on a college student losing a friend. While this (thankfully) hasn’t happened to me, it was a real fear I’ve had throughout the entire pandemic. What if my friends aren’t careful and they get sick? Many of my friends were essential workers, and some cared more about the virus than others, but I was worried about all of them.
This film looks at death not as something too scary. I think the main message of the film is that even when we lose people, parts of them still remain. That's what the title comes from, "Good Grief" - some grief is good. The ghost does the “call me” sign over and over, just as the body it once possessed did. The Student and The Ghost still enjoy time together at the end. Even when we lose people, they still stay with us to some extent.

One of my friends recently lost her father to cancer. I did my best to be there for her while she grieved, despite the pandemic. One day while I was at work, she texted me to tell me that she felt her father in the room with her. She described it as a sudden warm feeling as soon as she entered the room. That feeling is something that I wanted this film to capture as well - a warmth of an old friend that’s gone.