The ghosts in Arnaud Desplechin’s film “Ismael’s Ghosts” are not supernatural spirits, but flesh-and-blood mortals whose absences haunt the film’s titular protagonist (Mathieu Amalric). But just because they can’t walk through walls doesn’t mean they can’t toy with his sanity.
The story opens inside Ismael’s imagination as he’s writing a screenplay for a movie about diplomatic intrigue, starring his younger brother Ivan (Louis Garrel) as an elusive spy. The real Ivan lives a conventional life halfway across the world, estranged from Ismael, whom he sees as frivolous. That judgment could be masking jealousy or resentment: Ismael has cultivated a creative life for himself, one that Ivan views as a moral shortcoming.