We Have a Ghost's emotional ending has been warming viewers' hearts since the movie first dropped last February on Netflix. It's no surprise it hurtled up to the top of the streamer's most-watched list, and it's still sparking interest many months after its release.
It's easy to see why, as it's filled with genial, ghostly happenings and an ample dose of humour. Maybe it's not one of the best movies of 2023, but it's a very enjoyable old-fashioned haunted-house comedy.
However, this familiar concept comes with a twist: the ghostly visitor, in this case, ends up turning both his home and host family into a social-media sensation.
Not only that, but We Have a Ghost is hiding a surprisingly emotional finale up its sleeve. So if you were too busy dabbing away those tears to follow what actually happened to the phantom Ernest (David Harbour), then we're here to help.
We don't want to spook you, so final warning that there will be major spoilers ahead.
The Presley family consists of dad Frank (Anthony Mackie), mom Melanie (Erica Ash), eldest son Fulton (Niles Fitch), and the aforementioned Kevin (Jahi Di'Allo Winston).
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Kevin is a bit of an outsider in his family, whose series of moves are a result of their father's many failed business ventures. Now in suburban Illinois, Kevin discovers a ghost in their attic who can't remember anything about his past or his life; Kevin guesses his name is Ernest based on the monogrammed bowling shirt the ghost (played by Harbour) wears.
With the help of his neighbour and equal social misfit Joy (Isabella Russo), the two begin to hunt down Ernest's past. Meanwhile, Fulton and Frank discover Kevin's secret ghost pal and film him, becoming a swift YouTube sensation.
They're visited by a medium (Jennifer Coolidge), who thinks it's a hoax until Ernest puts on a vicious act, which is Kevin's idea to get the limelight off of them. 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.
Kevin and Joy break Ernest out, but at a playground, Ernest acts strange around a little girl and scares her; the moment is filmed and goes viral. This allows Monroe to get a warrant to get into the Presley home, but Melanie warns her son the fuzz is on his trail.
Joy's research reveals that Ernest isn't really Ernest; the real Ernest is still alive, so they track him down and real-Ernest reveals the ghost is actually his brother-in-law named Randy. He says Randy lost his wife (real Ernest's wife's sister, it's slightly confusing) in childbirth and one day dropped his daughter June off, never to return; real-Ernest suspected Randy drank himself to death.
Ghost-Ernest/Randy appears and angrily confronts real-Ernest just as Monroe turns up and apprehends Ernest. A confused Kevin returns home and distances himself from Joy and his family.
The captured 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. Real-Ernest dressed the corpse in the bowling shirt and buried him in the backyard.
We Have a Ghost ending explained
Monroe, having a change of heart, lets Ernest go. Meanwhile, the suspicious real-Ernest breaks into the Presley home to kill Kevin out of fear that Kevin will reveal the truth, leading to a confrontation with the family.
In the attic, real-Ernest tells the whole story to Kevin, and just as he's about to kill him ghost-Ernest/Randy comes to help. Then Frank appears and rushes real-Ernest, pushing him out of the window and saving his son.
Later, Kevin is being interrogated by the CIA, who are asking what happened to ghost-Ernest/Randy. Kevin says he vanished. We see however that Frank tracked down June and reunites her with her dad's ghost in an emotional moment of closure for everyone.
Kevin and ghost-Ernest/Randy share a final moment skipping stones on the shore, but ghost-Ernest/Randy begins to disappear. Later, the Presley family prepare to move though only a few miles away. Kevin and Joy are officially a couple.
In the attic, Kevin asks Joy if she thinks ghost-Ernest/Randy can still see them from wherever he is, and she says maybe. They leave the attic, and after a brief moment of stillness, a bare bulb begins to flicker.
We Have a Ghost is available to watch now on Netflix.
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Gabriella Geisinger is a freelance film critic and journalist, with a focus on J-drama & film, and the Japanese production industry. She was previously Locations Editor at Screen International and Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy. Her writing can also befound in Curzon, 1883, and more. A born and raised New Yorker, she loves coffee and the colour black, obviously.
