Debbie McGowan

Brilliant acting, perfect chemistry, some very funny moments, great script, production, direction — excellent in all ways... ...but one. This is NOT a romcom and should not be listed, recommended or reviewed as such (look up the definition for why). So that's five stars for the actors, writers and production team and no stars for Netflix for misrepresentation. Likewise for the Guardian review that describes it as a romcom.

After a slow start (which I'm blaming on modern expectations for epically long movies), Ghostbusters: Afterlife is everything I hoped it would be. The special effects of course benefit from the advances in production since the 1980s and yet are true to the original. The feel of the movie, the plot and characterisation are also in keeping with GB1 and 2, and to an extent GB3, although that's a debate for another time. I've seen the first movie so many times I long ago lost count, suffice to say many of the lines are part of everyday vernacular in our house. I admit that means I'm predisposed to loving what is as much a tribute to those loved and lost who brought this idea to life in the first place - I'll even admit to shedding a few tears. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a great movie in its own right, but to those of us who were there at the beginning, particularly those of us for whom maybe it was more than 'just a movie', it's the resolution we didn't know we needed. A happy-ever-afterlife.