--- title: "The Ghoul" year: 2017 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-ghoul" fi1m_id: "the-ghoul" imdb_id: "tt3613314" tmdb_id: 399256 wikidata_id: "Q75206451" fi1m_score: 68 critics_score: 66 critics_reviews: 9 published: "2026-10-03T00:14:34.271260+00:00" updated: "2026-10-03T00:14:40.142435+00:00" region: "TH" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Ghoul (2017) Directed by Gareth Tunley · 1h 21m · Drama, Thriller ## Identity The Ghoul - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-ghoul - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** the-ghoul - **IMDb ID:** tt3613314 - **TMDB ID:** 399256 - **Wikidata ID:** Q75206451 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3613314/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/399256, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q75206451 **Fi1m score: 68** · Critics 66 from 9 reviews *In a sentence:* A detective goes undercover as a depressed man and the cover starts to fit > Gareth Tunley’s first film sends a detective into therapy to crack a case and keeps us guessing which of the two is the cover story. Tom Meeten and Paul Kaye are reasons to see it; the last twenty minutes are the reason to hesitate. ## Synopsis Chris (Tom Meeten) is a detective brought onto a double murder in a London house by an old colleague, Jim (Daniel Renton Skinner). The victims were shot several times and, as far as the scene can tell him, kept walking towards the gun. The only lead is Coulson (Rufus Jones), a man connected to the house, and Coulson’s psychotherapist, Fisher (Niamh Cusack). Chris’s plan is to go to Fisher as a patient, presenting as a depressed man with nothing to say about his week, and find out what she knows. Kathleen (Alice Lowe), a colleague, helps him prepare the story. In Fisher’s consulting room, and later in the cluttered home of her associate Morland (Geoffrey McGivern), the sessions begin to sound less like cover and more like the truth. ## Review Gareth Tunley’s first film as writer and director opens on a double murder in a London house and is not, in the end, much interested in who did it. Chris (Tom Meeten), the detective brought in by his friend Jim (Daniel Renton Skinner), decides the way to the suspect is through the suspect’s therapist, and books himself in as a patient. From the first session the film starts asking its real question: is this a detective pretending to be depressed, or a depressed man pretending to be a detective? *The Ghoul* is small, grey and well acted, and for an hour it holds that question open with real skill. Then it has to decide how much to tell us, and it does not quite decide. Meeten carries nearly every scene and does it by taking things away. He plays Chris with his shoulders up and his eyes down, a man who answers questions a beat late, and he never signals which version of Chris we are watching. In the police scenes he is a tired, competent professional. In Fisher’s chair he is a man who cannot account for his week. The acting does not change between the two, and that is the trick. It is a performance that would go unnoticed in a bigger film and is the whole point of this one. Benjamin Pritchard shoots London as a city of back streets, stairwells and bedsits, with almost nothing in frame a visitor would recognise. Much of it is at night, lit by whatever streetlamp or kitchen bulb was already there, and the daylight scenes are overcast to the point of having no colour at all. Matthew Clark’s production design keeps the rooms bare and slightly wrong: Chris’s flat has a mattress and not much else, and Morland’s home is a mess of books, charts and symbols drawn on paper and pinned to the walls. Waen Shepherd, who also appears as Gav, writes a score of low electronic hums that sits under the scenes rather than on top of them, and the film is calmer for it. The best stretch belongs to Paul Kaye. His Tommy Parnell is another of Fisher’s patients, and in a long night-time scene he talks Chris through a theory of loops and one-sided strips, of things that look like progress and are really a return, and he does it without once raising his voice. We did not move for the length of it. Kaye plays it so quietly that you lean towards the screen, and the speech tells you how the film is built while pretending to be the rambling of a man who has been awake too long. Niamh Cusack’s Fisher is just as good in the opposite key, patient and kind and watching Chris closely enough to be frightening. Alice Lowe gives Kathleen a warmth nobody else in the film has, and her few scenes with Meeten are the only ones in which Chris looks like someone who was once happy. What does not work is the last act. Once the film has established that both versions of Chris are available to it, the procedural side thins out: the murder house, Jim and the case itself drift away, and the film does not miss them, though we did. Morland’s turn towards the occult tips things towards horror without ever arriving there. By the final twenty minutes we were frustrated, and not in the way the film wanted. We had stopped wondering what was real and started wondering whether Tunley had made up his mind. The last scene we will not describe. It answers the question the film asks; it does not satisfy it. Critics have been split on it, roughly down the middle, and the split is almost entirely about that ending. We can see both sides. A first film that trusts its audience this much is rare, and British thrillers this spare are rarer still. It belongs with [*Kill List*](https://film.one/film/kill-list) (2011) in the short run of British films that begin as crime and end somewhere harder to name. The difference is that *Kill List* kept its plot moving while it changed shape, and *The Ghoul* stops its plot to think. See it for Meeten, for Kaye’s monologue, and for a London that films do not usually bother with, and see it with the lights down and the phone put away. It runs 81 minutes and carries a 15. The argument afterwards about which Chris was the real one will not be settled by watching it a second time. We tried. *Fi1m score 68, published 3 October 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics are warm towards Gareth Tunley’s debut, if rarely effusive: four positive notices, four mixed and one negative. The praise clusters on Tom Meeten’s brooding, understated lead performance, which several reviews credit with keeping a slippery story grounded, and on Paul Kaye’s late-night monologue, which even the harshest review calls beautifully delivered. The atmosphere draws consistent approval, as does the film’s blurring of investigation, therapy and delusion against London’s streets. Tunley is widely marked as one to watch. Where they part is the plotting. Sight and Sound and Variety find the convolutions reward a second viewing; The Hollywood Reporter finds the screenplay too slight and cryptic to pay off its promise, and HeyUGuys says the final act frustrates. Empire concedes the austere approach will not suit everyone. The spread is wide, from 85 down to 40, and the lone dissenter is Little White Lies, which calls it a noble failure with contrived plotting and a hollow emotional core. ## Straight answers **Is The Ghoul worth watching?** *The Ghoul* is worth watching for anyone who likes a spare British thriller that cares more about its lead's state of mind than about who did the murder, and we scored it 68. Tom Meeten's withdrawn performance and a long, quiet monologue from Paul Kaye are the reasons to see it. The last twenty minutes drift, and the ending answers the film's question without satisfying it. **How long is The Ghoul, and what is it rated?** *The Ghoul* runs 1h 21m. It is a drama and thriller film. **Where can I watch The Ghoul in Thailand?** *The Ghoul* is not on any streaming or rental service in Thailand at the moment. It is available in 5 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is The Ghoul, and is it suitable for children?** *The Ghoul* carries a UK 15 certificate and is not suitable for children, though it is unsettling rather than gory. It opens on a double murder in a London house and later tips towards horror and the occult without quite arriving there. The discomfort comes from mood, bare rooms and a man who may be losing himself, not from on-screen violence, so the squeamish should be fine. **How does The Ghoul compare to Kill List?** *The Ghoul* and [*Kill List*](https://film.one/film/kill-list) both begin as British crime films and end somewhere harder to name, but *Kill List* is the stronger and far more violent of the two. Ben Wheatley keeps his plot moving while his film changes genre; Gareth Tunley stops his to think, and the procedural side thins out. Choose *The Ghoul* for a quiet character study, *Kill List* for a horror film with a strong stomach required. **What should I watch after The Ghoul?** After *The Ghoul*, try [*Kill List*](https://film.one/film/kill-list) (2011, Fi1m 82): Two hitmen, a dull job in the Midlands, and a film that changes genre without warning. Then [*Spider*](https://film.one/film/spider-man) (2002, Fi1m 78): Ralph Fiennes mutters through a grey London remembering a childhood that may not have happened. ### Reviews we read (9) - **Sight and Sound**, Anton Bitel (85/100, inferred): Bitel finds the film an impressively melancholic, brain-bending tragedy whose convolutions reward repeat viewings. He praises its inventive interweaving of reality and delusion, heightened by London’s labyrinthine streets and buildings. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-ghoul-twists-two-warped-tales-into-one) - **The Guardian**, Wendy Ide (80/100, inferred): Wendy Ide finds the film a brilliantly perplexing, unsettling psychological thriller. She singles out Paul Kaye’s electrifying monologue and the off-kilter therapy sessions for praise. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/aug/06/the-ghoul-observer-review) - **Empire**, Kim Newman (75/100, inferred): Newman finds the film powerful, disturbing and intense, while acknowledging its austere approach will not appeal to everyone. He singles out Tom Meeten’s intense performance and Gareth Tunley’s ambitious filmmaking for praise. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/ghoul-2-review/) - **Variety**, Catherine Bray (75/100, inferred): Bray finds the film an auspicious, haunting debut whose psychological twists reward repeat viewing. She praises Tom Meeten’s understated performance for keeping the story grounded while concealing its stranger direction. [Read](https://variety.com/2016/film/festivals/the-ghoul-review-1201906229/) - **Radio Times**, David Parkinson (3/5): Parkinson finds the film an unsettling, unconventional take on a police procedural. He highlights how its investigation blurs the boundaries between fantasy and reality. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-0hg7tk/the-ghoul/) - **Time Out**, Anna Smith (3/5): The critic finds the film an intriguing, ambitious thriller with a surreal story that keeps viewers guessing. She praises its assured debut filmmaking and its ability to mark Gareth Tunley as one to watch. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-ghoul-1) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Stephen Dalton (55/100, inferred): Dalton finds the film an effective but ultimately incomplete exercise in suspense, too slight and cryptic to deliver on its mind-bending promise. He praises its steadily building atmosphere and Tom Meeten’s brooding performance, while faulting the screenplay for leaving too many questions unanswered. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/ghoul-review-1028772/) - **Little White Lies**, David Jenkins (3/2/2): Jenkins calls the film a noble failure, criticizing its contrived plotting and hollow emotional core. He singles out Paul Kaye’s midnight monologue as a compelling, beautifully delivered highlight. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-ghoul) - **HeyUGuys** (65/100, inferred): The critic finds the ambitious debut intriguing and atmospheric, though its cryptic final act and straight-faced tone can frustrate. Tom Meeten’s complex lead performance is singled out for praise, alongside Alice Lowe’s tender scenes with him. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-ghoul-review/) ## Details - **Director:** Gareth Tunley - **Director:** Gareth Tunley - **Writer:** Gareth Tunley - **Cinematography:** Benjamin Pritchard - **Music:** Waen Shepherd - **Production design:** Matthew Clark - **Costume design:** Hesther King - **Producer:** Gareth Tunley, Jack Healy Guttmann, Tom Meeten - **Cast:** Tom Meeten as Chris; Alice Lowe as Kathleen; Paul Kaye as Tommy Parnell; Rufus Jones as Coulson; Daniel Renton Skinner as Jim; Niamh Cusack as Fisher; Geoffrey McGivern as Morland; Waen Shepherd as Gav - **Runtime:** 1h 21m - **First release (the UK):** 14 October 2016 - **Genres:** Drama, Thriller - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKmhU8c6hc0 ## Where to watch in Thailand Not streaming, renting or buying in Thailand at the last check. Also available in: CA, GB, IE, NZ, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Cure* (1997): A Tokyo detective, a hypnotist and a case that starts to investigate him instead. - *Kill List* (2011), Fi1m 82: Two hitmen, a dull job in the Midlands, and a film that changes genre without warning. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/kill-list.md) - *Spider* (2002), Fi1m 78: Ralph Fiennes mutters through a grey London remembering a childhood that may not have happened. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/spider-man.md) - *Angel Heart* (1987): A private eye’s missing-person case leads somewhere he should have seen coming. - *Prevenge* (2016): Alice Lowe writes, directs and stars, pregnant, in a murder comedy about taking instructions. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-ghoul