Story
Callie Spangler (Carrie Coon), her partner Gary (Paul Rudd) and her children Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), are living in the original ghostbusters firehouse. The place is falling apart, but the family is determined to keep fighting ghosts.
When Nadeem (Kumail Nanjiani), the grandson of a fire chief, sells an ancient orb to original ghostbuster Ray Stance (Dan Akroyd), who runs a paranormal shop specialising in the unexplained, strange things begin to happen. The ancient orb houses an evil demon, who was locked inside it centuries ago and who continues to look for a way out so that he can end the world through fear and ice.
Can the Spangler family and their friends work together to save the city from this ancient evil? Or will the demon release all the ghosts they’ve captured over the years and unleash a hellish fury on the citizens of New York?
Themes
Fitting in and belonging in relation to a blended family; betrayal; being undervalued and discriminated against due to age; fear; ghosts; supernatural entities and curses
Violence
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has some violence. For example:
- A firefighter’s hand is frozen to a door.
- Firefighters enter a room, only to be confronted with a room of people who’ve been suddenly and inexplicably frozen to death.
- A severed hand operates a crank.
- A pulsating orb causes frozen people to explode.
- The ghost of a sewer dragon erupts from below the street, and the Ghostbusters recklessly pursue it through the city as it damages walls and buildings and causes traffic chaos. Phoebe shoots at it with her proton gun. Eventually the creature is captured, but not before Phoebe is nearly crushed by oncoming vehicles and Gary smashes into some bicycles.
- Little marshmallow ghosts are repeatedly shot, impaled, squished, stabbed and smashed. One even has his arm ground up in a pencil sharpener.
- A green, slimy-looking ghost screams at and blasts through Trevor, leaving him standing in his attic covered in goo.
- A character describes how she was burned in a terrible tenement fire. This is why, even as a ghost, her body is still covered in flickering flames.
- A creepy spirit is sucked from a possessed CD.
- A disturbing ghost face comes up close to the glass-panelled prison in which it’s being kept. It terrifies everyone who goes near it.
- An innocent-looking ghost vomit-screams as people approach it.
- A machine breaks, trying to extract whatever is in an ancient orb. The ghosts in the building are clearly terrified of it. Many try to escape by bashing against their enclosures.
- The hand of one of the ghostbusters is frozen when he touches the orb. He’s later shown in bandages.
- A character describes how her family were all killed in a fire.
- Pens are repeatedly thrown at a character.
- There’s a backstory about a bloodthirsty king who used a demon but then branded and disfigured the demon by ripping the horns from his head. This demon then went on a murder spree, killing with ice and the power of fear itself. Finally, ancient fire masters captured him and locked him in an orb.
- A stone lion comes to life and is ready to attack and eat a character. Phoebe shoots the lion’s tail, and it blasts off its body. She shoots it again, just as it’s about to pounce on her and crush her to death. The lion explodes, stones falling all around Phoebe and landing on a police car.
- Phoebe uses a ghostbusting machine to separate her spirit from her body.
- Phoebe is possessed by a demon, who can control her spirit, and he uses her voice to unlock the orb and release an army of ghosts.
- A character tries to stop a demon with a proton gun, but her hands, pack and proton beam begin to freeze.
- A man is frozen and impaled. He shatters.
- A demon breaks into Nadeem’s apartment. He takes his old horns from a display on a wall and shoves them into the side of his head in a disturbing and disgusting scene. The demon then vows vengeance on the whole world.
- A violent storm suddenly begins out at sea. Ice spikes blast up from the sand as people on the beach run for their lives.
- A taxi is impaled by a huge bicycle.
- The doors are ripped off the firehouse, and the ghostbusting sign falls to the ground.
- A car is possessed by a demon that can inhabit any inanimate object. It tries to run down the ghostbusters.
- A weird blob with glowing eyes throws a demon onto a gun.
- A demon controls a gun and nearly kills Trevor and Gary.
- A demon blocks the exit of the firehouse with massive, sharp icicles. Ice bursts through everything as the firehouse cracks. The ghostbusters begin to freeze as they’re trapped against the spiky icicles.
- Phoebe shoots a demon in the chest, and he tries to fight her, shooting a storm into her mouth as she slowly begins to freeze. He then tries to suck her soul from her body.
- Nadeem throws fire at a demon, while Phoebe shoots the demon again. The demon glows red in a fiery rage.
- Little marshmallow ghosts attack a man in a car.
- Ice blasts through the basement of the firehouse. Horns are torn from a demon’s head. His spiky fingers and claws are snapped off as he’s sucked down a hole.
Sexual references
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has some sexual references. For example:
- Gary and Callie fist bump each other, talking about how they first ‘got some action’.
- An ancient, ghost-fighting chamber is repeatedly referred to as a sex dungeon.
- It’s suggested that a grandmother could be as loud as she wanted to during sexual acts.
- Nadeem asks the others to please stop making sex jokes about his grandmother.
- Referring to a demon, someone says, ‘Tall, dark and horny at 12 o’clock’.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
There is some use of substances in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. For example:
- A man is killed inside a smoke and vape shop.
- A character drinks straight out of a liquor bottle and says that it gives him courage.
Nudity and sexual activity
There’s some nudity and sexual activity in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. For example, a character mentions a ‘nipple’ painting, referring to an exposed breast.
Product placement
The following products are displayed or used in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire:
- Reese’s, Oreos and Lays packets are seen in a massive pile of wrappers.
- Trevor likes to eat Cheetos. He occasionally uses them to lure ghosts out of hiding places.
- Dunkin Donuts are sometimes seen.
Coarse language
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has some coarse language.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a sequel to 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The movie features a lot of special effects and some of the characters from the original 1984 Ghostbusters. But because of its violent and scary content, this isn’t a family movie. It’s better suited to teenagers aged 14 and above and adult audiences.
These are the main messages from Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire:
- Life can be difficult and messy, but everyone has a place where they fit in.
- It’s important to know your inner worth and to face your fears, rather than allowing them to control you.
Values in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire that you could reinforce with your children include teamwork, courage, persistence, curiosity, ingenuity and responsibility.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of things like:
- discriminating against someone based on age – youth doesn’t mean people are incompetent, and older age doesn’t make people useless
- taking risks and putting yourself in dangerous situations
- allowing fear to control you.