Second Sight

As wispy tendrils of mist finger the mountain tops of the Isle of Skye, the islands inhabitants recount tales of headless spectres appearing along the roadside and ghost cars careening towards them before suddenly disappearing into the night. Second Sight is on face value a ghost story. Octogenarian and filing cabinet fanatic Donald Angus MacLean takes us on a journey across the island visiting various friends who themselves have had their own chance encounters with unearthly beings. But it is much more than just a ghost story. First time director Alison McAlpine borrows straight from the traditions of cinema verite, silently pointing the camera at her subjects and shooting. But from it she constructs a story not about ghosts but about a man’s life and times and his contemplation on what comes next. The mountains and wild moors of Skye are a fitting backdrop for this whimsical and heartening tale.