We Have a Ghost

In Netflix's family-friendly adventure We Have A Ghost, David Harbour plays a ghost who goes viral. Read our review.

Landon, who directed the Vince Vaughn slasher Freaky and the Happy Death Day films, is a competent director, but We Have A Ghost is a mess. Nothing in the film feels original, We Have A Ghost can’t escape the heavy weight of its influences. in We Have A Ghost and Ernest is a likeable supernatural being. There are also some similarities between We Have a Ghost and Harbour is clearly having the time of his life and most of the film’s best gags involve him. Harbour plays Ernest, a ghost haunting the house that Anthony Mackie’s Frank and his family have just purchased.

Christopher Landon makes wonderfully quirky horror films that defy the typical cynicism of the genre nowadays. He avoids the pretension of “elevated horror” ...

Leslie Monroe [Jennifer Coolidge ](/cast-and-crew/jennifer-coolidge)as Judy Romano, the West Bay Medium [Erica Ash ](/cast-and-crew/erica-ash)as Melanie Presley [Isabella Russo ](/cast-and-crew/isabella-russo)as Joy Yoshino [Niles Fitch ](/cast-and-crew/niles-fitch)as Fulton Presley [Faith Ford ](/cast-and-crew/faith-ford)as Realtor Even as “We Have a Ghost” sags in places, it never completely fades into the dull background of Netflix originals of late. Father Frank ( [Anthony Mackie](/cast-and-crew/anthony-mackie)) is struggling to make ends meet and to maintain a healthy relationship with his increasingly-distant son Kevin (Jahi Di’Allo Winston, so good in “ [Charm City Kings](/reviews/charm-city-kings-movie-review-2020)” and on “Everything Sucks!”). Of course, “We Have a Ghost” becomes a bit of a whodunit too as Ernest learns about what really happened to him, including the identity of his killer. [Tig Notaro](/cast-and-crew/tig-notaro)) and her CIA boss Arnold Schipley ( [Steve Coulter](/cast-and-crew/steve-coulter)). [Geoff Manaugh](/cast-and-crew/geoff-manaugh), “We Have a Ghost” opens with the Presley family moving to a fixer-upper in Chicago.

David Harbour's new Netflix movie has just dropped globally, and with it comes a great soundtrack and original score. Here's the rundown of all the music ...

Sivaramakrishna Rao](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIo0g7S1EMA) [People Are Strange – The Doors](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0Mz_IqpZX8) [Dotted Line / Juju Man – Labrinth](https://youtu.be/RoyBzmAItV4) [Words – Missing Persons](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IasCZL072fQ) [Cloud Up and Thunder – Peck Rowell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVvOCc8NRbU) [Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – AC/DC](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsjdjWGDvFk) [Summer Breeze – Piper](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH5K6fm2C0I) [Unchained Melody – The Righteous Brothers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0EBs6uRgtw) [Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe – Barry White](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0I6mhZ5wMw) [On My Own – The People’s Thieves](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7trpHWvPjxU) He’ll also be the composer on Netflix’s upcoming Nice Guy – Alice Cooper](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE1vGT-hlLI) [Imperial March – John Williams](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsMWVW4xtwI) [25 or 6 to 4 – Chicago](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUAYeN3Rp2E) [Let’s Get Married (Remarqable Mix) – Jagged Edge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo1HaVN1Pt0) [Who’ll Stop The Rain – John Fogerty](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coK1b2L7UCc) [Ecstacy (Ecstasy on the Goan Sands) – Ulhas Bapat and B. Other well-known projects include Battlestar Galactica and Godzilla: King of the Monsters. - We Have a Ghost David Harbour’s new Netflix movie has just dropped globally, and with it comes a great soundtrack and original score.

However, as youngest son Kevin and his neighbour Joy begin to uncover the truth about Ernest's path, and his death, they swiftly become targets of a paranormal ...

The capture ghost-Ernest/Randy is being tortured/experimented on when a memory surfaces of the truth — ghost-Ernest/Randy dropped his daughter June off only for real-Ernest to murder him so that they could keep ghost-Ernest/Randy's daughter for themselves. In the attic, Kevin asks Joy if she thinks ghost-Ernest/Randy can still see them from wherever he is, and she says maybe. This allows Monroe to get a warrant to get into the Presley home, but Melanie warns her son the fuzz is on his trail. It only makes them more famous, attracting the attention of ghost hunter Leslie Monroe (Tig Notaro) and the CIA who come to the house to try and capture Ernest. With the help of his neighbour and equal social misfit Joy (Isabella Russo) the two begin to hunt down Ernest's past. Their ghost is the seemingly friendly Ernest, who helps turn the Presley family into a social-media sensation.

Three extended sequences stand out for their execution and comic timing, and will surely be what people take with them from the viewing experience.

This stretch doesn't go as far as to undo the goodwill the film has generated, though, and We Have a Ghost remains a worthy choice for family movie night. If the path from Happy Death Day to Freaky is any indication, this film could end up looking in retrospect like a stepping stone to crafting even more finely tuned fun the next time around. The more We Have a Ghost makes plays for heart, the looser its grip on the audience's attention becomes. Instead, viewers are encouraged to see this film as in conversation with that past, and its choice of perspective feels pointed in this context — the subtext of today's conversations around gender and masculinity, in particular, add juice to the well-worn parent-and-child-can't-relate conflict. In other ways, it is so clearly a throwback to a certain '80s and '90s vibe, with echoes of movies like E.T., Gremlins, Beetlejuice, and Casper, to the point that viewers might catch themselves wondering when this takes place even after they've seen references to TikTok. Landon's latest will be best remembered for its multiple laugh-out-loud set pieces, and with the craftsmanship and performances on display, viewers will likely be willing to forgive its less-impactful stretches.

In Illinois, a family moves into a creepy old house that neighbours claim is haunted. Youngest son Kevin (Jahi Di'Allo Winston) indeed soon encounters a ...

It’s a film ultimately about families, and seems to be designed to be watched by them too (at least, families with teenage kids) — a ghost story that nearly everyone can enjoy. And in the Landon tradition, there are knowing lines for horror fans, too (“We are not going to be like every stupid white family in every horror movie,” insists Erica Ash’s obstinate mother). He manages to be both Chaplin-esque funny and winningly warm, utilising to full effect the gentle facial expressions that made Chief Hopper a father figure to millions. But that Extremely Online, irony-soaked wit is tempered here: this is mostly an earnest, thoughtful genre piece, less interested in scares and more interested in cares. As Ernest, Harbour puts in a wordless performance worthy of silent film, working purely via body language and facial expression. This is mostly an earnest, thoughtful genre piece, less interested in scares and more interested in cares.

After penning the scripts for 2007's Disturbia and several Paranormal Activity sequels, Christopher Landon stepped behind the camera for Happy Death Day, a ...

[Lethal Weapon 5](https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/lethal-weapon-5-release-date-trailer-cast-plot-more-2008081/) [The Conjuring 4](https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/the-conjuring-4-release-date-trailer-cast-plot-more-1965361/) [Indiana Jones 5](https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/indiana-jones-5-release-date-trailer-cast-plot-more-1924048/) [Extraction 2](https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/extraction-2-release-date-trailer-cast-plot-netflix-2002767/) [Barbie](https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/barbie-movie-release-date-trailer-cast-plot-more-2012761/) [Oppenheimer](https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/oppenheimer-release-date-trailers-cast-2009353/) [Saw 10](https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/saw-10-release-date-cast-plot-everything-we-know-1904730/) [Stranger Things](https://www.dexerto.com/tag/stranger-things/). [John Wick Chapter 4](https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/john-wick-chapter-4-release-date-trailer-cast-plot-more-1980511/) [Creed III](https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/creed-3-release-date-cast-plot-trailers-everything-we-know-1961908/) After debuting as the Falcon, he’s now taking on the Captain America mantle in [New World Order](https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/captain-america-4-release-date-trailer-cast-plot-more-1867118/) and beyond. Leslie Monroe](/tv-movies/we-have-a-ghost-cast-all-actors-characters-2070446/#tig-notaro) [Steve Coulter: Arnold Schipley](/tv-movies/we-have-a-ghost-cast-all-actors-characters-2070446/#steve-coulter) [Jennifer Coolidge: Judy Romano](/tv-movies/we-have-a-ghost-cast-all-actors-characters-2070446/#jennifer-coolidge) [Faith Ford: Barbara Mangold](/tv-movies/we-have-a-ghost-cast-all-actors-characters-2070446/#faith-ford)

When the Presley family encounters a friendly ghost at their new house, their lives completely change. "We have a Ghost" begins with the Presley family ...

Kevin wondered if Rudy was still watching, and the blinking bulb confirmed that wherever Rudy was, he still cared about Kevin and was perhaps watching him with a smile on his face. They decided to contact Ernest Scheller because he used to own the house, and they hoped to find him in the dive bar he used to own. The CIA entered the house in the middle of the night to catch the ghost, but to their surprise, Kevin and Ernest were missing from the house. He mentioned that the ghost they thought was Ernest was actually Rudy. Just as he was about to attack Kevin, Rudy got hold of him and punched him in the face. The deputy director did not believe him, but he had no other option but to let go of the case. He was afraid that Rudy had told him about the past and that he would be punished for murdering Rudy now that the truth was out. He went to the attic and tried reaching out to Ernest, but the ghost was nowhere to be found. Even though the house was not what they wanted it to be, the Presleys were on a budget, and this was the best they could get. Frank needed to prove to the audience that the ghost was real so that they could trust him. But after Ernest’s video got popular, the CIA decided to restart the project and find the ghost with Monroe’s help. Kevin, the youngest Presley, was mostly distant from his family; he decided to explore the house on his own.

Kevin Presley (Jahi Winston) has just moved to a new home in the Chicago suburbs and isn't very happy about it. Not only is the Victorian-era house in ...

That said, for the most part, the short story’s scenarios have been updated to the characters’ betterment—softening Frank from a one-dimensional, self-centered guy to a flawed father working through his troubles, and swapping the brothers’ personalities and arcs. Closure is inevitably attained, of course, but at a cheapened cost that dramatically lessens the impact of its main characters’ journeys. Kevin Presley (Jahi Winston) has just moved to a new home in the Chicago suburbs and isn’t very happy about it. This has also left Kevin’s older brother Fulton (Niles Fitch) and mom Melanie (Erica Ash) approaching the family’s fresh start with a great deal of apprehension and worry. [Freaky](https://www.avclub.com/film/reviews/freaky-2020) and [Happy Death Day 2U](https://www.avclub.com/film/reviews/happy-death-day-2u-2019) cleverly function as Trojan Horses: breezy horror-comedies used to subtly smuggle in palpable amounts of poignancy dealing with familial anxieties. Monroe and the CIA, in favor of our core characters’ motivations could’ve helped tighten the pace and energetic rhythms.

Netflix's new movie "We Have a Ghost" features filming locations in Louisiana. The Chicago home is portrayed by two homes in New Orleans.

A convention center in New Orleans was transformed into the CIA office. The mountain background was shot in Bozeman, Montana, and added to the setting through visual effects. Naturally, the Presley family’s new house is one of the movie’s standout stars. “We shot the movie in the dead ass of summer in New Orleans, which anyone will tell you is crazy.” The soaring attic where the ghost, Ernest, likes to hang out was filmed on a soundstage. Ahead, dive into everything else we know about the filming locations in the movie.

Review: David Harbour is one lovable dead guy in 'We Have a Ghost'; plus the artful 'Bruiser'. A ghostly figure hangs its head out a ...

His Oscar-nominated latest is the mostly dialogue-free story of a donkey that gets passed from owner to owner and predicament to predicament in vignettes that Skolimowski captures with wit, humanity and astonishing visual flair. “The Outwaters” begins with lots of loose footage of young folks hanging out. “God’s Time” has an endearingly scrappy vibe and a talented cast filled with unfamiliar faces. The real star of “Ambush” is Connor Paolo, playing Cpl. [Billy Bob Thornton](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-ca-billy-bob-thornton-20180607-htmlstory.html) — educates his crew by sharing colorful anecdotes from his misspent youth, filled with rich details about both the fun and the responsibilities of being a bad guy. The artful indie drama “Bruiser” starts out as an engaging but perhaps too typical coming-of-age story about a middle-class kid cracking under the pressure of having to be a diligent and well-behaved student all the time. “We Have a Ghost” is unnecessarily long, padded with tangential comic characters — including Jennifer Coolidge as a phony TV spiritualist and Tig Notaro as a bitter ex-CIA agent — who don’t do a lot to advance the story or make it funnier. It’d be hard for anyone to compete with Thornton, but “Devil’s Peak” isn’t helped much by the bland performance of its lead, Hopper Penn, who plays Charlie’s softhearted son Jacob. Dubbed “Ernest” because of the name stitched on his shirt, the ghost — who can make noise but can’t talk, and can touch people but can’t be touched — tries to chase away the home’s new family by howling and making scary faces. Jalyn Hall plays Darious, a teenager whose parents have saved and sacrificed to send him to a nice boarding school, providing the kind of comfortable upbringing they didn’t have. In this case, most of the heart-tugging comes via Kevin, from his strained relationship with Frank and his attempt to help Ernest figure out who he really is. [David Harbour](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-12-02/david-harbour-violent-night-santa-claus-action-christmas) as a spirit haunting a fixer-upper house in the Chicago area.

In addition, thriller film 12 Desperate Hours, comedic thriller series The Consultant, docuseries Formula 1: Drive to Survive and the 2023 SAG Awards will also ...

[Presenters for the ceremony](https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2023/02/15/SAG-Awards-presenters-Andrew-Garfield-Emily-Blunt/7981676484271/) include [Andrew Garfield](https://www.upi.com/topic/Andrew_Garfield/), Emily Blunt, [Jessica Chastain](https://www.upi.com/topic/Jessica_Chastain/), [Don Cheadle](https://www.upi.com/topic/Don_Cheadle/), [Caleb McLaughlin](https://www.upi.com/topic/Caleb-McLaughlin/), Paul Mescal, Ashley Park, Zendaya, [Michelle Yeoh](https://www.upi.com/topic/Michelle_Yeoh/), Ke Huy Quan, and [Michelle Williams](https://www.upi.com/topic/Michelle_Williams/). [returns for a fifth season Friday](https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/TV/2023/01/12/Formula-1-Drive-Survive-Season-5-teaser-premiere-date-Netflix/4401673537888/) on Netflix. [Jack White](https://www.upi.com/topic/Jack_White/) serves as musical guest. [streams its first episode](https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/TV/2023/01/04/christoph-waltz-consultant-prime-video/6071672836388/) Friday on Prime Video. [returns for a third outing](https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/TV/2023/01/26/Party-Down-reunion-trailer-Starz-revival/9471674753059/) Friday on Starz and the premium network's streaming app. [streaming live Sunday](https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2023/01/31/2023-awards-show-schedule-how-to-watch/1221672955140/) at 8 p.m. [which airs Saturday on](https://www.mylifetime.com/movies/12-desperate-hours) Lifetime and streams the following day on the Lifetime app. The show is executive produced by James Gay-Rees and [Paul Martin](https://www.upi.com/topic/Paul_Martin/). The film, adapted by director Christopher Landon from the short story "Ernest" by Geoff Manaugh, stars Jahi Winston as Kevin, a teenager who discovers a ghost named Ernest ( [David Harbour](https://www.upi.com/topic/David-Harbour/)) haunting his family's new house. [streams Friday on](https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Movies/2023/01/26/We-Have-Ghost-trailer-David-Harbour-Netflix/4491674749578/) Netflix. [Christoph Waltz](https://www.upi.com/topic/Christoph_Waltz/) stars as Regus Patoff, a consultant hired to reorganize operations at an app-based gaming company. The movie, directed by [Gina Gershon](https://www.upi.com/topic/Gina_Gershon/), also stars David Conrad as Val's husband, Mark.

A so-so attempt to recall kids films of the 80s struggles to find its own personality amidst its many influences.

The bigger it all gets, the further we feel pushed away and it starts to recall the scrappy disaster of Happy Death Day 2U, which squandered the simple joys of the original by needlessly extending the canvas. There is some mildly interesting familial tension at play between Mackie’s opportunist father and Winston’s disappointed son (a speech about being unable to hide one’s faults when a child gets old enough to see them is effective) but Landon struggles to bring emotional heft to the central friendship. In Landon’s simpler, sweeter low-stakes opening act, the film works best, a charming melange of Casper, Beetlejuice and the aforementioned Amblin classics, gently taking us through familiar motions. “We have a ghost!” is then exclaimed with the words meaning something different to each family member. It makes sense that he would then parlay that into the world of family films and so his Landon has always been transparent about his influences – Happy Death Day recalling Groundhog Day, Disturbia recalling Rear Window (to the extent that Hitchcock’s estate tried to sue) – but here, he’s too busy trying to conjure the vibe of a certain type of film to focus on crafting something of his own.

Jahi Di'Allo Winston is great in a movie that doesn't deserve him.

But Landon mires Kevin’s story in patience-taxing wackiness and heavily sugared earnestness, and resolves this conglomeration of subplots in the stupidest manner possible. He can moan and groan, but can’t talk, a crucial plot point, because if he could explain what happened to him, most of the plot of the movie wouldn’t happen at all. (Comedy that rarely hits its mark, mind you.) The exception is Winston’s thoughtful characterization of Kevin, a sensitive kid who’s empathetic rather than fearful in unusual situations. He’s the chemical catalyst for thoughtful interactions with Harbour and Russo, and is the movie’s strongest redeeming quality (among far too many non-redeeming ones). The too-muchness of this movie is its undoing. The world is convinced the ghost is real and not fake, and Frank wants to exploit the living frick out of the situation by monetizing their internet content, going on talk shows and inviting famous supernatural medium Judy Romano (Jennifer Coolidge) over to film an episode of her TV show. The film is chock-full of characters who act like Movie People – you know, they’re either plot devices or sources of comedy. The yard is a tangle of weeds, the siding is filthy and the cobwebs inside indicate that there had to have been 10,000 spiders in there working overtime. Dad Frank (Mackie) and mom Melanie (Erica Ash) are sold on the place, but their teenage sons Kevin (Winston) and Fulton (Niles Fitch) aren’t convinced. At this point, it’s crucial that we learn the movie’s Ghost Rules: Ernest can walk through walls and stuff and when you try to touch him, whoosh, you can’t. [Stranger Things](https://decider.com/show/stranger-things/) guy David Harbour, Marvel guy Anthony Mackie and too-talented-for-this-junk young guy Jahi Di’Allo Winston (who was extraordinary in little-seen 2020 drama [Charm City Kings](https://decider.com/movie/charm-city-kings/)). The film is veteran director Christopher Landon’s follow-up to another, leaner, smarter, funnier genre mashup, 2020’s [Freaky](https://decider.com/movie/freaky/), which amused us in all the ways that We Have a Ghost doesn’t.

But his latest role as Ernest the Ghost in Netflix's We Have a Ghost is unlike any character he—or almost any other modern actor—has ever attempted. The gimmick ...

In We Have a Ghost, Harbour brings that same tenderness, which as always is juxtaposed by his giant, gruff exterior. Whether Ernest is giving Kevin an encouraging wink to get him to make a move on Joy, or desperately searching the back of his mind to remember how he died, Harbour conveys everything he needs to without crossing the line into pantomime or saccharine sentimentality. The movie is in the vein of Amblin movies from the ‘80s and ‘90s, with parallels to that era of wholesome yet un-patronizing storytelling found strewn throughout. From there, it’s an avalanche of antics as Kevin and his neighbor Joy (Isabella Russo) fight to keep Ernest out of the CIA’s grasp. The question is, why make a movie in which one of its most recognizable stars on Netflix doesn’t say a word? He doesn’t speak once in the entire movie.