Blithe Spirit

Charles Condomine is a successful writer struggling to finish his screenplay. Hoping to break his creative block, he and his wife Ruth invite the eccentric medium Madame Arcati to hold a séance at their home. The ritual instead brings back the spirit of Elvira, Charles's first wife, who has no intention of returning to the afterlife. Her continued presence turns Charles's household into an awkward triangle involving him, the dead Elvira and the very much living Ruth.

The film is a comedy with fantasy and romance elements, directed by Edward Hall. Noël Coward wrote the play on which it is based, and the screenplay is credited to Coward, Piers Ashworth and Nick Moorcroft. Dan Stevens plays Charles, with Leslie Mann as Elvira, Isla Fisher as Ruth and Judi Dench as Madame Arcati. Julian Rhind-Tutt and Emilia Fox appear as Dr. George Bradman and Violet Bradman. It was produced across Australia, the United Kingdom and France.

Released in November 2020, the film runs 99 minutes. Its ratings are modest: on IMDb it holds 5.5 out of 10 from around 9,500 votes, and on TMDB 5.7 out of 10 from roughly 244 votes. A critics' rating of 4.7 out of 10 from 79 reviews places it slightly below the audience scores, though all three measures sit in similar territory.