Two kids discover their estranged grandfather was a
​Ghostbuster and decide to take up his legacy and save the world.

COMEDY/FANTASY

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

Directed by Jason Reitman

Written by Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman

Starring Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Logan Kim, Celeste O'Connor, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd,
​Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Sigourney Weaver

Sequel to 1989's Ghostbusters 2

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Connor Eyzaguirre

November 18, 2021

9/10

It has been a long time since we've gotten a good Ghostbusters movie. Over thirty years, in fact. We all remember the godawful 2016 reboot that went absolutely nowhere. Thankfully, the powers that be saw fit to erase that piece of shit from the collective cinematic consciousness and gave the reigns of the franchise to Jason Reitman, son of original film director Ivan Reitman. It was Jason Reitman who finally managed to make something good enough to unite the original team in a movie that far exceeded my expectations, delivered an emotional gut punch, and renewed my faith in the Ghostbusters franchise. This movie rocked.

We follow single mom Callie (Coon) and her two kids Trevor (Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Grace). Trevor is your typical horny teenager, but Phoebe is a scientific introvert. They move to a small Oklahoma town to settle Callie's dad's estate, as he recently passed. What the kids discover is that their granddad is none other than former Ghostbuster Egon Spengler, played by the late great Harold Ramis in the original two films. This discovery is coupled with a ghost explosion in their town, which is connected to a mysterious mining operation and a certain ancient Sumerian god. All of it culminates in an epic finale loaded with nostalgia and fan service, which I've never really seen as a bad thing.

You can tell Ghostbusters: Afterlife was a love letter to Harold Ramis. Egon's legacy is the crux of the film, and personally I felt the film brought together a perfect blend of nostalgia and a new crew to get behind for possible future installments. This is one of my favorite films of the year. A proper third Ghostbusters after all these years.