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But the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' critic calls Dragonfly "inane" and claims "Shadyac's clunky thriller offers some garbled spiritual bunkum about the 'next world' with overripe dialogue and a derivative script that grows increasingly ridiculous."

Phil Boatwright (The Movie Reporter) writes, "This supernatural romance/adventure, one supposedly to make us think about the hereafter, failed on every level. I understand Shadyac is a Christian … [but] I found his attempt here at guiding an audience to questioning spiritual matters less than effective. I wasn't moved. I wasn't interested. I just wanted the howling nonsense to be over."

A critic at Movieguide writes, "The movie's worldview problems and occult content make it totally unacceptable."

Michael Elliott (Movie Parables) says, "The journey to the final payoff is a tedious one and afterwards we recognize how manipulative the whole experience was." Elliott was troubled by the idea that Joe's dead wife is trying to communicate with him. "After all, she's dead. The Scriptures tell us plainly that the dead cannot speak."

Douglas Downs (Christian Spotlight) objects to this plot point as well: "Jesus declared in Luke 16 the biblical reality that there 'is between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'"

Some of these critics seem to object to the whole literary device of ghosts in storytelling. Like the magic in Harry Potter, the ghosts in these stories are not presented as an argument for how things really work, but as a way of talking about things we cannot know, to communicate a message of hope or, sometimes, horror. And while Christ certainly had good reason for exhorting us not to seek out contact with the dead, he did not forbid exploration of the idea in storytelling. Scripture itself offers such tales: Saul consults the spirit of Samuel, Jesus talks with Elijah and Moses. Both stories suggest these things are indeed possible, and that tales about such events are valuable.

Jesus himself used characters from beyond the grave in his own storytelling. Downs mentioned Luke 16:17-31 for a profound and even amusing story about tormented souls in Hell shout pleas for help to Abraham, who they can see walking around in Heaven. Sounding a little annoyed, Abraham shouts right back at them. Granted, there is some debate about whether Jesus was telling a parable or a literal happening. Sounds like a parable to me, but either way, Christ offered inhabitants of the afterlife as relevant characters in a good story.

What truly is disturbing about Dragonfly is the counsel that the nun offers Joe—and the audience. She is portrayed as the voice of wisdom and reason. And yet she encourages him to try to contact his wife's ghost, claiming that such a thing is possible if only Joe believes it is possible. "If we can create this world with what we imagine, then why not the next?" she argues. "Belief gets us there."

Lindy Beam (Focus on the Family) objects to this flimsy philosophy: "In an attempt to make a heartwarming statement about the power of faith, Dragonfly forgets that faith has to be a belief in what is true, not just belief for its own sake. This film gets credit for asking all the right questions, but deserves a swat for … failing to produce the right answers."

Douglas LeBlanc (Christianity Today) writes, "Joe's changed belief comes entirely through esoteric experiences. The film clearly rejects Enlightenment notions of reality, and thank God for that, but Dragonfly is too concerned with receiving messages from the other side. As a reflection on heaven, life on Earth, and how the two interact, it's no more nutritious than the popcorn."

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February (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46