Get ready to dress up in your best cosplay because it’s time for another Ritual. Two years after their first concert film, Rite Here Rite Now, Swedish rock band Ghost have returned to the big screen with Ghost: 2 Big to Rig, a concert film shot entirely on 16mm film. This time, band frontman Tobias Forge has taken a step back from the director’s chair, replaced by Amir Chamdin who has worked with the band previously including on the music video for Secular Haze, and Jim Parsons, a director famous for his concert films including Harry Styles: Behind the Album.
Ghost: 2 Big to Rig was filmed during the second and third of the band’s three planned concerts at Palacio de los Departes in Mexico City. Shooting had originally been planned for the first night, however it was pushed back when Tobias Forge, known as Papa V Perpetua in the current iteration of the band’s extensive lore, was struck down by food poisoning. The film addresses this with a short segment at the start that features interviews with, and the reactions of, attendees when they were told Ghost wouldn’t perform. This sombre sequence acts as an acknowledgement of fan’s disappointment, and an apology to those affected by the cancellation.
Transitioning into the second and third nights, the film’s tone changes drastically to one of joy and celebration. Fans pile into the venue, screaming as the band takes the stage and their performance begins. From this point, the film becomes a mixture of footage from the concert and short glimpses of the behind-the scenes of how the concert was set-up. The pre-concert footage, which is shot in black and white, gives an incredibly interesting insight into how Ghost’s concerts come to life, and the hundreds of people needed to make it happen.
However, these fascinating scenes are brief and feel more like interruptions to the concert portions then proper inclusions. In turn, the film suffers from an identity crisis, with it stuck between being a concert film and a documentary. The result is a jarring experience that makes getting fully immersed into the film difficult. They also come at a high price, with two of songs performed at the concert From the Pinnacle to the Pit and Darkness at the Heart of my Love, being cut from the film to make room for them. While these songs are included in the film’s official soundtrack, moviegoers miss out on seeing them being performed on the big screen.
But even with two songs missing, the scenes of the concert itself are spectacular. The multiple camera angles used throughout help to sell the in-person concert experience from the comfort of a cinema seat. The editing of 2 Big to Rig further adds to this, mixing in static shots with more edited scenes. One example can be seen during the song Majesty, where ghostly copies of the band float behind them or circle around them. This imagery works well with the story of the song, namely how many people are blindly worshipping an evil, all-powerful figurehead.
The ending of the film acts as a goodbye from Ghost. After one final bow to the cheering crowd, Papa V Perpetua enters backstage as the credits begin to roll. He takes a seat and stares into a mirror, a freeze frame of which is the last thing we see as the film ends. The scene is melancholy and beautiful, and an unexpected ending that left me feeling genuinely upset, a strange feeling after the energetic fun produced by the rest of the film.
Fans have been left to speculate about what this ending could mean for the band’s future. Tobias Forge has already confirmed that the band is on an indefinite hiatus due to a lack of clear direction for where he wants to take Ghost. In the meantime, Tobias is focusing on other creative projects, including reviving another band he fronted called Repugnant for the newly released horror film V/H/S Mixtape. While I do hope Ghost makes an eventual return, this sendoff feels like a bittersweet end to what was an enjoyable, if conflicted film.
bella 
Hayden Price 
Finn Wilson