"Out of Body": A Gay Ghost..er...Displaced Spirit is in Love with His Best Friend

Out of Body, on Amazon Prime: "When a demon takes possession of Malcolm's body on Halloween, his spirit is trapped in his friend Henry's house. Believing spirits who linger must complete "unfinished business" before they depart, Mal thinks his task is to help Henry fall in love. Even though Mal's been in love with Henry for years, he valiantly tries to hook up his friend with a hot new neighbor."

This plot synopsis is gibberish. When a demon possess you, you're not actually dead, just being controlled.  So is Malcolm dead anyhow, and trapped in Henry's house while his demon-controlled body does whatever it wants?  If he completes his "unfinished business," will he go on to the afterlife, or get his body back?   I have to watch this, to see if they just have a catatonic blurb-writer, or if the whole movie is gibberish.

Scene 1: The young, not particularly buffed Henry (writer/director/star Jason T. Gaffney) jogs -- in the middle of the street! -- through a desert-country suburb festooned with Halloween decorations. He stops to stretch, and gets cruised by a guy in a suit (Max Torrez)-- who is walking in the middle of the street!  Haven't these people ever walked anywhere before?   This makes Henry recoil in homophobic panic.  So the "unfinished business" is to hook up your straight friend with a woman?  He rushes in the house, takes off his clothes, and calls someone named Gina, no doubt his girlfriend. about his candy-corn cupcake recipe.  

"Malcolm will coming to the party late," he complains.  "Yes, tonight would be the perfect...well, what am I supposed to do, grab him and kiss him?"  Wait -- I thought Mal was in love with Henry, not vice versa.  And isn't Henry straight?  Why did he just have a gay-panic over a guy cruising him?   

Scene 2:  Mal (Kevin Held, left) arrives at the party late, while Henry is passing out candy -- and hugging trick-or-treaters.  Hugging?  Do the writers know how trick-or-treating works? Or is he saying goodbye to a little-girl party guest?

He greets the other party guests, Gina and Carl (David Singletary).  The party consists of the host, his unrequited crush, and a straight couple?  That's just sad.  Henry presents Mal with a candy-corn cupcake that he had sitting on the floor?  On a plate, but  still gross.

Carl is new to the group, so Gina gives him a plot dump: Henry is a freelance photographer, and Mal has a high-power businessman job.  They're just friends, even though they are perfect for each other and have been inseparable for 12 years.  Henry has actually been in love with Mal for all that time, but he's also interested in the hot neighbor  -- the guy in the suit who cruised him this morning.  Wait -- he ran away from a guy he likes, who was displaying obvious interest.  Is he, like, twelve?

Then they discuss the spirit realm, trapped spirits, and so on.  They brought a mystical orb which glows different colors depending on the mood of the people present -- notably red if there's anyone "recently dead" around.  Finally they get down to party business: a ouija board.  Wait -- they don't even play with it -- Gina and Carl pack it up and leave.  All that buildup for nothing!

Now just two guys at the party, struggling to ignore their intensive attraction because it's necessary for the plot.  Finally Henry kisses Mal, who is shocked, having been oblivious to his mooning for 12 years.  

They are interrupted by a knock on the door.  As Henry goes to answer it, Mal is jolted and whooshed, and collapses onto the couch in the recently-deceased position.   Henry thinks he fell asleep, covers him with a quilt, and goes to bed.  The orbb glows red, indicating that Henry is dead.

Scene 3:  Morning.  When Henry awakens, Mal is gone -- he must have left during the night.  Maybe he was upset by the kiss?  Henry calls to apologize -- no answer.  Except -- when he leaves to go jogging, Mal's body is still on the couch!

Mal awakens, disoriented.  It's difficult to walk or move objects, like the romance novels Henry keeps in the kitchen.  Why are there romance novels in the kitchen?  There's also a hidden stash of photos of Mal.  Why would a professional photographer have to hide photos of his best friend?  It would be weird if he didn't have any.  And why would you hide anything in the kitchen, where guests will be milling around, looking for glasses and such.

Henry returns, but Mal doesn't see or hear him, so he gets on the phone to Gina and discusses how much he is in love with Mal,  who of course overhears everything.   He thinks Mal isn't answering his phone due to being upset over the kiss.

Scene 4:  Gina and Carl come over to comfort Henry in his distress over not being able to contact his friend for two hours. My mistake -- they're not a romantic couple, they're gay man-straight woman life partners, like "Will and Grace,"   They can't see or hear Mal either, so he gets the idea that he's a ghost.  But, he wonders, where's my body, and why am I haunting Henry?  Maybe Henry murdered him with a poisoned cupcake, and buried his body in the back yard!  That's rather a unusual leap, but who would imagine that an evil spirit kicked him out of his body and took it to a sex club?  

Scene 5:  Mal discovers that, with great effort, he can push a photo off the table, change tv channels,  click on a laptop (which Henry instantly closes), and spell a message with candy corn (which he scatters when he climbs out of bed naked)  All of Henry's books are by Suzanne Brockman, who happens to be the co-writer.  She has published over 100 novels, mostly romances, and won a lifetime achievement award from RWA, the Romance Writers of America. 

Scene 6:  Night.  Henry leaves the house on a mysterious mission, and parks in the wilderness in the dark.  He walks toward the woods.  Is he going to a secret meeting of Cthulhu worshippers?   No, he went out for Thai food! Bad lighting, camera angles, and somber music made it seem like he was doing something mysterious and sinister...and interesting.  Darn.

Back home, Henry doesn't eat his Thai food.  He calls Gina to see if there's any word from Mal, who is still struggling to find a way to communicate.  These scenes of Ghost Mal trying to communicate with Henry are becoming tiresome.  When is the demon-possessed Mal's body going to show up to wreak havoc?  When is Mal going to start playing matchmaker?  

Scene 7:  Mal tries to communicate with Henry some more.  He is unsuccessful, but at least Henry realizes that he's being haunted.  He suspects that it is a very elaborate Halloween prank (even though it's now like November 4th), but he agrees to call Pat the Crazy Ghost-Hunting Lady.

Scene 8: Pat, the Crazy Ghost-Hunting Lady, brings her crazy measuring devices to the house.   She's completely wonky, sensing a spirit in the wrong part of the house, but not Mal standing right in front of her.  Plus she thinks that it's "female."  Is that the stereotype that gay men are all feminine?  But she finds a way to communicate through "whooshes" of wind: one whoosh for "yes," two for "no."  Pat soon discovers that it is actually Mal, but Henry still thinks that he is being pranked or scammed.

I'll stop the scene by scene there.

Beefcake: Henry takes off his clothes a lot -- the six pack abs in the top photo are not there.  Mal doesn't take anything off, because of course ghosts are trapped wearing whatever they had on when they died.

Gay Characters: All of the men, none of the women.

Spoiler Alert:  The demon occupying Mal's body eventually shows up; he's been having fun in Las Vegas (no exterior shots).  There's a nonsensical "who will sacrifice himself for the other" scene, before they vanquish the demon, Mal gets his body back, and they express their love for each other.  The hot guy from the first scene never appears again.