Jamie Marks is Dead comes from the director of The Ruins…but I didn’t let that stop me from watching it. This is not so much a horror film as it is a supernatural drama bordering on tragedy.
The movie opens with a girl named Gracie happening upon the nearly naked body of Jamie Marks beside a river. We see in flashbacks that Jamie (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Harry Potter) was viciously bullied in school (maybe that Harry Potter thing had something do with it?).
With the circumstances of Jamie’s death a mystery, the kids in school theorize on the awful things that might have happened to him. A student named Adam, who feels bad that he never reached out to Jamie when he was alive and is deeply affected by the story, runs into Gracie at the spot where she found Jamie’s body (she has a very morbid outlook on life). The pair becomes romantically involved—in a weird way—and bonds over the fact that they can both see Jamie.
Even though Gracie warns Adam to stay away from Jamie’s ghost, the boys become intimately close. This includes plenty of physical contact, considering Jamie’s “ghost” is a fully tangible presence. However, it’s all very platonic because there isn’t a mutual longing to satisfy gay desire. But that’s not the way a violent ghost with matches and a knife sees it!
Oh yeah. Things get really bizarre in Jamie Marks is Dead. While it seems to be going the route of a mystery in which Adam uncovers the truth behind Jamie’s death, and there’s even some “Sixth Sense-y” supernatural suspense moments, the movie is an exploration of emotions and a sad and melancholy story of two lonely lives (well, one life and one death) finding each other. It’s a heartstring puller for sure…one that leaves your heart feeling sort of empty in the end.
The fantastic cast includes familiar faces like Cameron Monaghan, who plays gay on Shameless, and Morgan Saylor of Homeland, plus Liv Tyler and Judy Greer.
