Nina, an interpreter, is beside herself with grief at the recent death of her boyfriend, Jamie, a cellist. When she is on the verge of despair, Jamie reappears as a "ghost" and the couple are reconciled. The screenplay never clarifies whether this occurs in reality, or merely in Nina's imagination. Nina is ecstatic, but Jamie's behaviour – turning up the central heating to stifling levels, moving furniture around and inviting back "ghost friends" to watch videos – gradually infuriates her, and their relationship deteriorates. She meets Mark, a psychologist, to whom she is attracted, but she is unwilling to become involved with him because of Jamie's continued presence. Nina continues to love Jamie but is conflicted by his self-centred behaviour and ultimately wonders out loud, "Was it always like this?" Over Nina’s objections, Jamie decides to leave to allow her to move on. At the end of the film, Jamie watches Nina leave with Mark and one of his fellow ghosts asks, "Well?" and Jamie responds, "I think so. Yes." At this point the central conceit of the movie has become clear: Jamie came back specifically to help Nina get over him by tarnishing her idealized memory of him.
The first time I saw this film was on my 14th birthday, I really enjoyed it even though it is a very sad story and I fell in love with Alan Rickman! :) xx
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