.

There is a moment at the end of this film where the young hero looks at his mum and utters the words ‘save me’. Alas though it isn’t a moment of gender empowerment where a commonly marginalised type of female character is called into action to offer salvation to the male lead; he just wants her to stop his dad from embarrassing him in front of his new girlfriend.

I probably wouldn’t even have noticed this had previous events not highlighted how underused the mother figure was. Not ten minutes earlier the woman rushes down the stairs because her sixteen year old son is under attack from a crazed assailant but all three males, her husband and their two boys, literally shove her in a cupboard to remove her from the action. I mean this lady was showing some real mama bear energy, she was going to step up and bring the pain but nope; apparently this was man’s work. It wasn’t a very feminist moment and to be reminded of this at the end, with the aforementioned exchange, only compounded things. As it is this character Melanie is just another trope; the nagging but loving mother who has to parent not only her children but her husband when they have impetuous ideas or show the impulse to be selfless and heroic.

I know, I know, it’s just like me to zero in on the whole idea of this Ripley Factor that I am so fond of talking about when I should be looking at the bigger picture, but yes – I hope that is just like me. That’s kind of what I aim to do.

In terms of the rest of the film, it is actually a very enjoyable family adventure about a disenfranchised teenager who finds new purpose and family connection when he discovers a phantom in his attic. It is reminiscent of other things like Casper, The Haunted Mansion, ParaNorman, The Canterville Ghost or The Frighteners (it actually references Ghost and Beetlejuice but these comparisons do not sit as well) but it also has the feel of Harry and the Hendersons and Alf, or even E.T, where some youngsters find some kind of fantasy creature and head off on wild adventures with it.

There are two ways in which We Have a Ghost differs from all of the above though. The first is that at no point does anyone make any serious attempt to hide their outlandish discovery from the world. The film has a fun time showing how the public might react to the evidence of a real spectral manifestation being shared on the internet. The TikTok scenes are particularly on the money. Secondly, the family at the heart of the story are not white which doesn’t need to be big deal but is notable, which means it kind of is. The protagonist Kevin’s teen ally Joy is Asian too which is appropriately referenced and then moved past.

There is much to appreciate in this movie. The special effects feel a little standard, as if Guillermo del Toro, Hideo Nakata or James Wan had never made a movie, but David Harbour plays the spirit with a fine balance of comedy and pathos which the narrative nicely matches. I may have had an issue with some of the gender representation but this is a charming film, no need to ghost it.