Throwback Thursday: Ghostbusters: Afterlife is still a film that fans must see, even if it isn’t what they expected. And it’s streaming this weekend on Hulu.
Related: Dungeons And Dragons (2023) Teaser Drops, Litz Hospitalized
Directors Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman introduce viewers to single mother Callie (Carrie Coon), her teen son Trevor (Wolfhard), and amateur scientist Phoebe (Grace) in this 2022 film based on the original Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd classic, Ghostbusters.
Credit: Sony Pictures
Ghostbusters: Afterlife, quick sheet
Callie packs up the family and travels to a dirt farm bequeathed to them by a late cousin in a little town in Nowhere-Ville, Oklahoma because she can no longer afford rent and expenses in the city. However, Phoebe quickly discovers that the village is undergoing a peculiar occurrence: there are multiple earthquakes, but the town isn’t near a fault line.
The town’s weird phantasmagoria is the forerunner to a terrible paranormal catastrophe. As it all unfolds, Afterlife is about Phoebe discovering the truth with her supernatural-obsessed podcast host classmate, Podcast (Kim).
McKenna Grace is fantastic as Phoebe. She’s a young woman attempting to make her place in the world while her mother discourages her scientific curiosity and has few friends. Afterlife is Phoebe’s quest to discover her roots and accept her traits and talents. Ghostbusters: Afterlife conveys an important message, and Grace perfectly portrays the role.
Carrie Coon, as Callie, is effectively the story’s stealth protagonist, grappling with the lost father she never truly knew. She is a committed but struggling single mother. Callie is doing her best, but some childhood traumas never heal entirely. Callie needs to learn how to support Phoebe’s abilities effectively. In this film, Coon is both striking and convincing.
What didn’t work in Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Afterlife leans in a little too hard at times, believing itself the direct sequel to the original Ghostbusters. The narrative raises numerous questions concerning its mysteries but never circles the square regarding its origins. Unfortunately, many of those issues are never satisfactorily addressed; raising several urgent issues without explicitly answering them is the classic bait-and-switch strategy.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife might have spent more time building the characters of Lucky and Trevor as secondary members of the new team to increase their stakes in the film. Trevor’s crush for Lucky accounts for the majority of their growth. There’s a suggestion that Lucky is a fourth-generation townie who wants to escape or has ambitions of something bigger. But we need to see how this shakes out to any satisfactory conclusion.
Their subplots and stakes needed greater elaboration in the film to emphasize their status as new gang members. Having said that, one of the new cast members, Logan Kim, fits in perfectly with the overall setting and plot. He beautifully balances out the duo with the more scientific and fact-based Phoebe, a fearless youngster interested in mystery and the occult.
Their newfound connection propels the storyline of Afterlife ahead and adds a fantastic feeling of
excitement and discovery of the picture.
What works most about Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Reitman has developed a picture that celebrates the history of the iconic, legendary original film and introduces the series to new generations.
He did not, however, rest on the laurels of the original and attempt a complete carbon copy. Afterlife introduces a new cast of characters and marks the beginning of exciting new ghost-busting adventures.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife currently holds a 7.1 IMDB rating.
First released Date: 4th February 2022 (United States)
Runtime: 120 minutes
Cast: McKenna Grace as Phoebe, Finn Wolfhard as Trevor, Carrie Coon as Callie, Paul Rudd as Gary Grooberson, Logan Kim as Podcast, Celeste O’Connor as Lucky, Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz, Bokeem Woodbine as Sheriff Domingo, and Josh Gad as Muncher.