‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’, the fourth film in the franchise, is a shaky walk down memory lane.
Fans of the original movies will recognise the call-backs, Easter eggs, and references, but may find that those elements are sprinkled in just to create nostalgia, and are unnecessary to the plot of the new narrative.
The film is a supernatural comedy directed by Jason Reitman, the son of Ivan Reitman, the original 1984 Ghostbusters franchise director.
Afterlife takes place decades after Ghostbusters 2 and follows the lives of the daughter and grandchildren of Egon Spengler, one of the first Ghostbusters, played by the late Harold Ramis.
At first sight, Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon), doesn’t resemble Egon at all, but her daughter Phoebe (McKenna Grace) does. The curly-haired, flat-toned, glasses-wearing, super intelligent nerd, Phoebe is practically a replica of her grandfather of whom she knows little to nothing about.
Single mother Callie moves her children Phoebe and Trevor, the teen with a knack for fixing and restoring mechanics (Finn Wolfhard) to Summerville, a small town in Oklahoma, following her father’s death to clean up the old farmhouse he stayed in. She’s filled with anger over the fact that Spengler chose his work over his family and hence hasn’t thought of him as a father figure for years.
Trevor manages to land a summer job and Phoebe is enrolled in summer school to keep her scientific mind engaged. She meets fellow classmate; conspiracy lover and paranormal enthusiast, Podcast (Logan Kim) and teacher, Mr. Grooberson (Paul Rudd). While Phoebe becomes friends and partners with Podcast, she connects with Grooberson over their shared interest in the strange seismic activity that’s been hitting Summerville.
The plot follows Phoebe as she uncovers her grandfather’s identity and takes on the family Ghostbusting business to her mother’s chagrin.
The ghosts in the new instalment in the franchise, since the 2016 reboot with an all-female Ghostbusters cast is clearly meant to be forgotten, are from the past. Mythical legends that date way back to a hundred years before Summerville was established.
The film features cameos from the original movies that are meant to spark familiarity to true fans, but they fall short because of the forced placement. This includes phrases like the famous “Who you gonna call?” to which fans of the original will sigh while rolling their eyes, and audiences who just watch for the sake of watching will respond “Ghostbusters!” in their most excited tone.
While the original Ghostbusters took place in New York City with adults at the forefront, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a family-friendly, small town, goofy, and heartwarming young adult movie about loss and forgiveness.
