SYNOPSIS:

John, a renowned food critic nicknamed “the Man with the Golden Tongue,” deals with grief after he loses his wife Mary to an unexpected and sudden death. After the funeral and cremation, he brings her ashes home to begin the healing process. Still grieving, curiosity gets the better of him and he decides to taste Mary’s ashes. The moment he does, Deon suddenly appears in John’s living room. It quickly becomes clear that Deon is a ghost—and that it is his ashes John now possesses. There has been a mix-up at the crematorium. When the crematorium refuses to believe John’s claims, it falls to John and Deon to fix the mistake themselves. They suspect John’s highly trained palate as a food critic is what allows him to see ghosts. Believing Mary’s ashes are most likely with Deon’s brother Marvin, the two hit the road. While driving through the desert outback, they get into a car accident and are forced to abandon the vehicle in search of a working phone. They come across a man named Tanner, who advises them to stay the night at his place since the tow truck won’t be able to reach them until morning. While staying there, Deon convinces John to taste the ashes sitting on Tanner’s mantelpiece, believing it will allow Tanner one final conversation with his dead wife. The ashes turn out to belong to the family dog—who then terrorises John all night. After being towed into town and getting a replacement vehicle, they arrive at Marvin’s house. John manages to swap the ashes while pretending to be an old friend of Deon’s. He leaves Deon with his family and walks out with what he believes are Mary’s ashes. But when he is alone and tastes the cremains, they belong to an elderly lady named Marge. Marge explains that only three sets of ashes were mixed up, and that her granddaughter caused the mistake while playing in a restricted room at the crematorium. John is now certain Mary’s ashes are with Marge’s husband Lucas. After reuniting with Deon at his request, the three of them take to the road again. Following a horrifying night at a hotel and a fact-finding trip to the cemetery, they arrive at Lucas’s house. John, pretending to be a distant relative, learns that Lucas has already scattered what he thought were his wife’s ashes at the local park. Devastated and desperate, John races to the park to search for Mary. Because John can only see ghosts by tasting their cremains, he drags his tongue along the gazebo where Mary was scattered—much to Deon and Marge’s horror. It works: Mary appears. John is able to say his final goodbye before she passes on. He then scatters Marge’s ashes in the park where Lucas would have wanted them, and she too passes on. Finally, John takes Deon back to his brother’s place so he can be the last spirit to find rest. John then returns home, feeling—at last—at peace.

PALATE CLEANSING