‘Dear David’ Review – The Viral Ghost Story Offers Nothing New

A BuzzFeed employee, Adam Ellis in 2017, took to Twitter and documented his experience with a ghost. The thread became an internet sensation, and six years later, we have the movie Dear David. The movie combines the real-life premise with all the trappings and jump scares of a possession thriller. What follows is ninety minutes of things going bump in the night, a tiny subplot of relationship drama, and a battle with a demonic entity. Those expecting an excellent supernatural fright prepare for a ghosting in the worst way – this supernatural horror is a pedestrian walk on a trail well-worn and by now overexploited.

Dear David takes creative license on Adam Ellis’s real-life encounter with a ghost. The movie builds a backstory about a child named David, who dies under mysterious circumstances in 1996 and who, in 2023, begins stalking and later possessing those on the internet who do not play nice. David is no Casper, is out for blood, and virtually stalks David before planning to off him by using his internet slang against him: DIAF (Die in A Fire).

The movie benefits from a compelling performance by Augustus Prew, who plays a fictionalized Adam. He is a man in a dark place. His relationship is on the ropes. He is emotionally vacant. He lashes out at internet trolls. In other words, he is a perfect target for a virtual ghost. Prew delivers an equally vulnerable and arresting performance as the film’s primary focus.

Still, Dear David finds its stride when the focus is on Adam. He struggles with fear of commitment to his long-term boyfriend Kyle (René Escobar, Jr.), and he walls himself off from his friends, especially his work buddy Evelyn (Andrea Bang, who folks may recognize from last year’s Fresh), leading to a period of self-loathing and poisonous self-doubt.

These internal struggles are peppered in between nightly encounters, though largely subplots; these elements give the ghost threads a bit more punch. It is nice to have those emotional beats to fall back on, especially at the end, where the movie delivers an unsurprising twist that feels like a default for these types of movies.

In addition to Prew’s performance, Justin Long has a supporting role in the movie as Bryce, the fictional head of BuzzFeed, and is a great sparring partner opposite Prew’s Adam. Long is not battling demons or ending up as monster fodder, but he is a loveable yet insufferable boss who gets in a few good quips and provides the movie with some unexpected laughs. 

The movie breaks no new ground as a demonic ghost story. Levitations and disturbing dreams have graced the screens for decades, and these tropes appear in Dear David. The real moments of terror arise from Adam questioning reality. As the demonic possession takes hold, his life craters, and those around him believe he may be going insane as opposed to seeing a ghost. Again, this is where Prew shines and elevates the tired material. If only the focus lasted longer, then there might be more screams than boos.

Therefore, Dear David often flows like a Dear John letter to the subgenre. Outside of the novel concept that takes a page from actual events, the movie never distinguishes itself from the catalog of other ghostly entries. A battle of life and death with demons? Check. Devious and plotting specters? Check. Creepy, wide-eyed children? Check. All these stories have a shelf-life; based on this movie, time is up. Those looking for a similar concept would be better to discover or revisit recent hits like Sinister, The Conjuring, and even The Nun.  

Truth is often stranger than fiction, as the real-life ghostly encounters describe. The unexplainable is pure nightmare fuel, and the 2017 threads are a worthwhile read for anyone looking for some genuine goosebumps and WTF moments. Amazingly, those written accounts are more harrowing than a stylized ninety-minute movie. In this case, for Dear David – the story is better than the movie. 

Dear David will debut in select theaters and will be available on Digital and On Demand on October 13, 2023 courtesy of Lionsgate. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjgL1lYk7VE]