The most fascinating thing about this film was the battle between human soldiers and ghosts—ghosts that were almost invincible. And it took the help of one dedicated scientist to even the playing field, sort of. But the film was more than just that.
Spectral subtlely explores a different state of matter from the three that we know. The Bose-Einstein condensate. A state of matter that happens at near-absolute zero temperatures. With this knowledge, they eventually understand the kind of war they are fighting and how they could manage to win with a small chance.
A team of soldiers and a brilliant scientist face off against mysterious, ghost-like entities causing havoc in an war ravaged city. Blending cutting-edge physics, they go against the supernatural mystery before they consume all of humanity.
The first scene of a soldier strangely killed by a ghost-like entity simply passing through him gripped me. I immediately began to wonder just how such an entity could be fought. They aren't visible to the naked eye, and none of the conventional weapons would work on them.
What was really interesting to watch was the way the soldiers had to fight. They got better gear and quickly learnt about the Aratare, the ghost-like entities, with time. However, watching thousands of ghosts swarm in was terrifying as well as exciting. And just as entertaining as it was to watch the soldiers fight, it was enlightening to learn about a peculiar state of matter other than the three that we have always known.
Even though the film had a good start, its energy throughout the film didn't drop. It kept on climbing until finally reaching a climax at the end of the film. I particularly liked how, as gripping as the action was, the film managed to strike a balance with the physics concepts and keep it all engaging.
For a film released in 2016, its GCI was pretty much well cooked enough to sell the film's story. To see sophisticated and futuristic technology portrayed alongside warfare weapons not only allowed me to be invested in the film, but the film helped me to learn new things, like a lot more about the Bose-Einstein condensate.
I'll say that this is probably one of the best sci-fi action films that I have watched in a long time. Nearly a 2-hour film, it is the type of film that I could watch more than once. It has a lot more than I would see in such types of films these days.