The Civil Dead

Clay Tatum as Clay is an unemployed photographer living in Los Angeles. When his wife leaves town, he hatches a plan to stage a fake open house to pay the rent. He befriends Whit, a ghost only he can see, and begins using the haunting to gain an edge at a private poker game, risking his marriage and moral boundaries.

Whit is Clay's dead high school friend who becomes a ghost that only Clay can perceive. He cannot pass through doors or touch objects, and he relies on Clay to navigate the living world. Whit offers insider information about the poker game and reveals his tragic backstory as a street performer who was beaten to death.

Whitney is Clay's wife who travels for work and returns unaware of Whit's haunting. Her absence creates the domestic tension that drives Clay's desperate choices and highlights the fragility of their relationship.

Arnold hosts a private poker game that pulls Clay into a dangerous social circle. He represents a figure of authority within an underground scene and acts as a gateway to the film's central tension between loyalty and opportunism.

Belle is the hostess at Arnold's poker game and the social conduit for the night’s proceedings. She navigates the web of relationships surrounding the game, adding texture to the underground social world the characters inhabit.

Sydney is the cabin owner who provides the remote space that becomes a pivotal setting in the film. Her presence anchors the shift from urban life to an isolated environment where Whit's haunting unfolds.

Anna Seregina is one half of the Cabin Couple who occupy the cabin, contributing to the domestic layer of the story and providing a sense of ordinary life within the remote setting.

Chris Thayer is the other half of the Cabin Couple, sharing the cabin space and adding to the intimate, lived-in atmosphere of the retreat where hidden tensions emerge.

Budd Diaz is a friend who helps Clay reach Arnold's poker game, acting as a bridge into the night’s darker social world. His involvement accelerates Clay's descent into the scheme surrounding the haunting.