Ghost in the Shell, 1995 - ★★★★½

Would we have the Matrix, Final Fantasy VII, Her, the Borg queen, or GPS - without Ghost in the Shell?

Questions about the entanglement of politics and technology, human enhancement and the nature of consciousness are today's headlines. The film feels like it could've been made this year. The fact that it's 30 years old is a testament to its vision and prophecy.

A prophecy that uses the art of the past -- with insanely sumptuous hand drawn animation, in an era right before CGI took over.

Are there ghosts in the shell of ChatGPT5? Claude? Are our memories real and trustworthy? In the age of deepfakes and AI generated video -- it's harder to not feel like Project 2501 is on our doorstep.

*We screened this as part of our film society's partnership with the local library. If you can see this film on the big screen - it's worth it. The level of detail in the hand drawn animation -- particularly the way light functions is just amazing. The birth of 1000 videogames.