Critics reviews

"Light From Light" does not totally stick the landing, as it stays small when it should have finally gone big. But the characters are well thought out and relatable, the cinematography is excellent, and the conversations between Shelia and Richard have resonance.

If you were to imagine “The Conjuring” stripped of its scares — or “Ghostbusters” with less ectoplasm — and reimagined in the minor-key mode of regional American filmmakers like Kelly Reichardt and Patrick Wang, you might come close to approximating [the film's] effect... “Light From Light” draws you in early with its guitar-twang score and its lovely shots of the mist-wreathed Great Smoky Mountains, but much of its sustaining charm comes from the sight of ordinary, no-nonsense people calmly trying to wrap their minds around the unthinkable.

Although it takes its time getting to where it’s going, “Light from Light” does eventually reach its destination. For a movie about grief, it’s surprisingly even-handed, not too melancholic, heavy or existential but mostly pensive.

Writer-director Paul Harrill (“Something, Anything,”) isn’t interested in the sensational scares of a haunted house film. This is a character-driven drama, and Harrill would rather show you the dull act of signing insurance papers, because it’s in these nonevents that the film comes to life... As sparse as the film often feels, it’s rendered touching by these moments.

Don’t let the film’s quiet intimacy deter you; that’s the reason to see it. And Harrill’s subtle style is beautifully reflected in the performances... What’s most special about these characters is that there’s nothing special about them — other than, of course, their thoughtfully rendered and relatable humanity.

While the contemplative tone and measured pacing are definitely features instead of bugs, "Light Of Light" is so anodyne at times that it borders on inert. Harrill is poignantly, sensitively attuned to the emotional states of his characters. Yet it often feels like that’s the only thing being offered in "Light From Light," which hits the same note repeatedly.

Harrill’s direction is clean and economical... and his observation keen. Only in focusing so thoroughly on the normal does "Light from Light" stumble upon the paranormal.

“Light from Light” still feels like film firmly footed in reality, so much so that the few truly suspenseful moments seem almost epic in scope when they couldn’t be more intimate. It’s an exercise in tone and performance that rewards the viewer in ways you can’t quite articulate, but sense nevertheless.

Neither thriller nor sentimental whimsy, ["Light from Light"] is a quietly matter-of-fact drama that utilizes a “haunting” story hook for non-religious yet affirming ends...Very little happens in a conventional genre sense here, and the one crisis that arrives has nothing at all to do with ghosts. But there’s never a sense that Harrill is playing for time, or teasing our expectations... [It's] a very small but rewardingly poignant film.

"Light From Light" may be a small, personal film, but that doesn’t lessen the power of its conclusion. It suggests that regardless of how blissfully happy or crushingly painful the journey may be, the important thing is to face it on your own terms.

Please don’t go to “Light from Light” expecting a horror movie, which it most certainly isn’t. Rather, the film is a gentle, humanist drama that uses the idea of a haunted house to explore themes of doubt, wonder, and the search for meaning in the modern world.

Modest in scale but rich in sensitivity, this is an unassuming film, made all the more transfixing by its defining delicacy and understatement... a minor-key work executed with unfussy assurance and a firm grasp of tone, finding melancholy beauty in the landscapes of the director's native Tennessee. The film's prevailing mood is somber, but both its ending and its title suggest that light will emerge from life's mysteries if you let it.