“We Have A Ghost” Movie Review
“We Have a Ghost” is a new Netflix release. Starring Jahi Di’Allo Winston and David Harbour, this tale of a trapped ghost is pretty entertaining.
This film is a very modern take on ghost hunting and haunting. It highlights the influence of technology and the general opinions of people today. For example, TikTok influencers, YouTube videos, and news broadcasts.
The film begins with the selling of a house that’s insinuatingly haunted. The house looks destroyed, but the realtor plays it off to make the sale.
Soon after the family moves in, their youngest son Kevin (Winston) meets a ghost named Ernest (Harbour). Although the ghost can’t speak, the two communicate and Kevin decides to help Ernest become unattached from the house.
However, other issues arise when Kevin’s dad, Frank (Anthony Mackie), and brother Fulton (Niles Fitch), find a video of Ernest on Kevin’s phone. Frank posts the video and it goes viral.
Frank takes this opportunity to make money off of Ernest. He posts videos of Ernest constantly to keep people’s attention. Eventually, this attracts the tv medium, Judy Romano (Jennifer Coolidge).
Ernest acts up in the middle of the session and acts like any terrifying ghoul from a horror film. It was so terrifying that the entire crew, including Judy Romano, fled the house screaming.
Meanwhile, Kevin and his new friend, Joy (Isabella Yoshino), are actively searching for records of Ernest’s life before he died. Joy follows a lead that leads them to a man who supposedly knew Ernest when he was alive.
This lead is the answer to all the questions they had about Ernest’s death. In addition to this discovery, Ernest himself is gaining information about the situation through brief flashbacks.
In addition to this chaos, the CIA is after Ernest. A division for the paranormal led by Dr. Leslie Monroe (Tig Notaro), began a ghost hunt for Ernest. They succeed…for a little while.
In the end, all the details of Ernest’s life come together. Kevin and Joy discover how he was killed, who did it, and the motive. Ernest gets closure.
This film was unlike many others. It had three different plot lines. Although they were relevant, it made the film too busy. So many things were going on and it was hard to follow.
It was also two hours long and it at times felt neverending. It started out quite slow and picked up about an hour in.
No doubt, the best thing about the film was the relationship between Kevin and Ernest. There was an unsaid understanding between them and it was nice to see it develop.
However, all of the other characters were cringy. They were portrayed very stereotypically and it was hard to watch at times.
The mom was the damsel in distress. Joy was a very girl-power, independent character, but when she met Ernest she became less feisty and showed signs of infatuation.
None of the characters had any development. Things just happened and the story continued. Overall, this film was an okay watch, but not enough to watch again.
Rating: 2/5
Isabel Sweet is a first-year majoring in communications. To contact her, email ips5219@psu.edu.
