The Most Creative Ghost Story Of The Decade Just Arrived On Prime Video
Ghost stories are a staple of storytelling. They’re universally recognized and exist across cultures because everyone is taken with the idea that the deceased don’t leave this world, but live on in some form. Filmmakers often use ghost stories as horror tales of hauntings, as in The Conjuring (2013) and The Awakening (2011). Still, others have gotten more creative, recognizing that these stories can be scary, sad, or even darkly funny. Movies like Ghostbusters (1984) and We Have a Ghost (2022) explore the idea of ghosts more playfully. However, the award for the most creative ghost story of the decade goes to a more obscure movie, A Useful Ghost (2025). The Thai film is bound to attract new audiences to its creativity after it debuted on Amazon Prime Video on June 16, 2026.
What Is ‘A Useful Ghost’ About?
A Useful Ghost is an offbeat ghost story about ghosts who take the form of vacuum cleaners. In the film, a self-professed Academic Ladyboy (Wisarut Homhuan) buys a vacuum cleaner to help with the dust around his apartment. Upon getting the vacuum, though, he’s disturbed by coughing at night and finds the vacuum routinely spits out the dust it vacuumed up. When the repairman, Krong (Wanlop Rungkumjad), arrives to inspect the vacuum, he suspects it's haunted and launches into the sad, strange tale of Suman (Apasiri Nitibhon).
Suman is the owner of her late husband’s electronics factory, but finds it haunted by the vengeful ghost of her deceased employee, who possesses the factory’s equipment. She’s further disturbed when her son, March (Witsarut Himmarat), discovers his late wife, Nat (Davika Hoorne), has returned to him as a vacuum cleaner. Determined to save her reputation and business, she takes drastic measures to rid her factory of her employees’ restless spirits.
Why ‘A Useful Ghost’ Is the Most Creative Ghost Story of the Decade
A Useful Ghost’s premise sounds quite silly. Indeed, part of the film’s appeal is its unapologetic absurdity and embracement of dark comedy. However, it goes much deeper than just a comedy about a ghostly vacuum cleaner. The film carefully and convincingly constructs its own version of the nature and rules of ghosts and spirits, including how they exist only through their ties to the memories of the living. At times, the ghosts in A Useful Ghost take on the form of a poltergeist, causing chaos and shenanigans as they seek peace. Even so, you realize over time that the ghosts aren’t quite the enemy of the story.
The film utilizes its zany premise to draw you in. The humor, absurdity, and visuals work perfectly to complement the genre-bending, story-within-a-story premise. Once you’re in the story, you realize that the film has something to say. It’s not so much a story about ghosts as it is a sobering critique of the concept of erasure. The film is a metaphor for how those in power sometimes find it beneficial for society to forget aspects of history, just as Suman wants everyone to forget the unfortunate ghost in her factory.
A Useful Ghost isn’t scary in the way that traditional ghost story movies are. You won’t be subjected to jump scares or the body horror of violent possession. Instead, it instills in you a nagging, lingering fear about what we owe the ghosts of the past and what they may do if we continue to forget.
Why To Watch ‘A Useful Ghost’ on Prime Video
A Useful Ghost is a creative, bold take on the ghost story subgenre that isn’t quite like any other movie. It almost feels like what a Yorgos Lanthimos take on a ghost story may look like, as it capitalizes on that darkly comedic, surreal aesthetic of movies like Poor Things (2023) and The Lobster (2013). However, the supernatural spin and unexpected nature of its poltergeist are also mildly reminiscent of lighter ghost works like Beetlejuice (1988) and Haunted Mansion. On top of that, its sharp sociopolitical commentary is on par with that found in films like Parasite (2019). All of that is to say that A Useful Ghost is creative and sophisticated, executing its bold, eccentric premise with skill and resulting in a ghost story that is different in the best way possible. If you’re looking for a truly abstract but thought-provoking ghost story, A Useful Ghost is for you.
