The supernatural has never seemed so...natural. In this outstanding independent film from director (and bit player/musician) Tim Rutili, a lonely fortune-teller and magical worker named Zel (played by the radiant Angela Bettis) lives in an old country house inhabited by a wide range of unusual ghosts that only she can see. There's a party-and-sex obsessed priest (Reid Coker), a flighty flapper girl (Sierra M. Mitchell), a bride (Emily Candini), a band of blind musicians (in reality the band Califone, who provide the excellent and deeply mystical soundtrack to the film), and a strange, child-like woman named Nyla (Molly Wade) who cannot speak.
Zel inherited the house and the ghosts from her grandmother, who also knew magic and divination, and the film functions in some ways as a demystification and de-glamorization of the "gypsy fortune-teller." When we see that Zel reads the names of winning horses for a client off of a piece of paper given to her by Nyla-only to then find the paper has absorbed into her skin-we sense that the transaction was rigged, yet at the same time we know that Zel did receive a message from the spirit realm. It puts the viewer in an odd and sublime position of questioning Zel's abilities, which all come from her contact with the ghosts, and at the same time recognizing that there is no reason this film's explanation of events should seem implausible.
Zel is not merely a medium, she is also a deeply talented magical worker. She smartly lays down a salt line in front of her bedroom door every night to keep her ghost-friends out, as their perception of personal boundaries are very different than her own (the scene where Zel's boyfriend attempts to get a little bit intimate with her while all the ghosts pile into the living room to watch television is sad and hilarious). In the end, the ghosts confront Zel with a family secret and a difficult decision, while at the same time she struggles with clients old and new who place increasing demands on her time and skills. The director cleverly bookends each section of the film with bits of folk magic, title cards with things like "A wish made while burning onions will come true," which lends to the overall enchantment of the piece.
Rutili has done a marvelous job with this film, which feels by turns documentary, comedy, drama, and music video. His casting is mostly excellent, with standout performances from Bettis and from Karol Kent (who plays the nicer of Zel's two clients). For anyone with an interest in spiritualism, magic, or good cinema in general, I cannot recommend this film highly enough. Available on Netflix.
Teller And Magical Worker Named Zel
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