---
title: "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire"
year: 2024
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/ghostbusters-frozen-empire"
fi1m_id: "ghostbusters-frozen-empire"
imdb_id: "tt21235248"
tmdb_id: 967847
wikidata_id: "Q113300586"
fi1m_score: 52
critics_score: 47
critics_reviews: 17
published: "2026-09-09"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:59.741842+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

Directed by Gil Kenan · 1h 55m · MPA PG-13 · Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy

## Identity

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/ghostbusters-frozen-empire
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** ghostbusters-frozen-empire
- **IMDb ID:** tt21235248
- **TMDB ID:** 967847
- **Wikidata ID:** Q113300586
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21235248/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/967847, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q113300586

**Fi1m score: 52** · Critics 47 from 17 reviews

*In a sentence:* An ancient ice demon threatens Manhattan and the Ghostbusters respond by holding a great many meetings

> Gil Kenan brings the Spenglers to New York and then keeps interrupting them so the old team can wander through. Acaster, Nanjiani and a sewer chase earn their keep; the rest is a family film that keeps losing its family.

## Synopsis

The Spengler family from *Ghostbusters: Afterlife* have moved into the New York firehouse. Callie (Carrie Coon), her children Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and her partner Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) chase ghosts until the mayor’s office objects to a fifteen-year-old on the team and Phoebe is sent home. Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) now runs an occult shop and a podcast with Podcast (Logan Kim), and buys a brass orb from Nadeem (Kumail Nanjiani), who found it in his late grandmother’s flat. Something inside it is old, and cold. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Dr Hubert Wartzki (Patton Oswalt), Lars (James Acaster) and a ghost named Melody (Emily Alyn Lind) are drawn in as the temperature begins to drop.

## Review

Gil Kenan directs from a script he wrote with Jason Reitman, and the plan is a reasonable one. Take the Spengler family from *Ghostbusters: Afterlife*, move them into the New York firehouse, let them do the job, and allow the surviving members of the 1984 team to turn up as neighbours rather than as the point. For its first twenty minutes that is the film we get. Then the visitors start arriving, and by halfway the family has been shown to the back of its own house.

The opening chase is the best thing here. A long, ribbed ghost that looks like a dragon assembled from sewer parts leads the Ecto-1 through Manhattan traffic, Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) in the gunner’s seat and Gary (Paul Rudd) at the wheel. Eric Steelberg keeps the camera low and among the cars, and Nathan Orloff and Shane Reid cut it so that we always know where the ghost is, where the trap is and how far the car has to go. Nothing later moves as fast.

The comedy is in better hands than the story. Kumail Nanjiani plays Nadeem as a man who will sell anything and is affronted to learn that this time it mattered. James Acaster’s Lars, a researcher who talks about possessed objects the way a vet talks about worming, is funny every time he opens his mouth, and we laughed out loud at his deadpan more than we expected to. Rudd does his usual decent work as a man trying to be a stepfather without being allowed to use the word. Patton Oswalt’s one scene, in a library, is a pleasure.

The strand that gives the film a heart is Phoebe’s. Sent home from the team for being fifteen, she takes to playing chess in the park with Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), a girl who died in a fire long ago and has not left. Steelberg lights her in a cold blue that makes her look like a photograph, and Dario Marianelli’s score, which elsewhere waits politely for the old song, goes down to a few strings. We were moved by these scenes, more than we expected, because Grace plays loneliness plainly and Lind plays being dead as a kind of patience.

The rest is a crowd. Callie (Carrie Coon) is given a lecture to deliver and little else. Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) spends the film chasing a familiar green ghost around the attic. Lucky (Celeste O’Connor) and Podcast (Logan Kim) are handed jobs at a research facility and then left there. Dan Aykroyd gets a proper part, a Ray Stantz who is not ready to stop; Bill Murray gets a handful of scenes and reads them as if from a card. Orloff and Reid have six strands to keep alive and the film keeps going to whichever one has explaining to do. The demon’s history is told in the library and then told again in a laboratory, and we were bored the second time, then irritated, because the film had already done it well once.

Eve Stewart’s production design does what it can. The firehouse is cluttered and lived in, the containment unit glows red in the basement, and the research facility is white tile and glass tanks. Ruth Myers and Alexis Forte keep the flight suits tan and the packs heavy. The demon is a horned thing with a long face and a light in it, and Steelberg lets frost bloom across brick and windows as it passes. It is a good design. It is not frightening, and at 12A the film does not try to make it so.

The 1984 film was a workplace comedy about three unemployable men who turned out to be right. This one is a family film that keeps looking over its shoulder at them. Reitman’s *Afterlife* had the same habit and had a field to do it in; Kenan does it in a firehouse, and a firehouse is smaller.

Watch it at home with children who liked the last one. They will get the dragon and the ghosts, you will get Acaster and Rudd, and nobody will be frightened, which is the certificate doing its job and the film doing rather less.

*Fi1m score 52, published 9 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews are split, and widely. Most critics find Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire overstuffed: too many characters, too many callbacks to the original, and too little room for the young cast that Afterlife set up. Nostalgia comes up in nearly every notice, seldom as praise. Where critics are kinder, the praise gathers around the supporting players, with James Acaster and Kumail Nanjiani named more than once, around Phoebe’s storyline, and around the ghouls themselves, several reviewers enjoying the practical effects and a chase through the sewers. A handful, Digital Spy and Variety among them, think it an improvement on its predecessor, better balanced between scares and jokes. Radio Times and NME go further and call it plain good fun.

At the other end, The Telegraph and Vulture find it desperate, witless and barely a Ghostbusters film at all. The middle ground, such as it is, settles on likeable but tired.

## Straight answers

**Is Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire worth watching?**

*Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire* is a mixed bag that we cannot quite recommend, and we scored it 52. The opening sewer-ghost chase through Manhattan and the deadpan of James Acaster and Kumail Nanjiani are worth having, but the Spengler family keeps being pushed aside so the 1984 team can wander through. Watch it at home with children who liked [*Ghostbusters: Afterlife*](https://film.one/film/ghostbusters-afterlife); adults will find it crowded and repetitive.

**How long is Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, and what is it rated?**

*Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire* runs 1h 55m and is rated PG-13 by the MPA in the US. It is a fantasy and adventure film.

**Where can I watch Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire in the US?**

*Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire* is available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, and is it suitable for children?**

*Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire* is a 12A and is not frightening, which is largely by design. The ice demon is a horned thing with a long face, and frost creeps across brick and glass as it passes, but the film never tries to scare anyone. There are ghosts, a fast car chase and a quietly sad friendship with a girl who died long ago; nothing here should trouble a child old enough for the certificate.

**How does Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire compare to Ghostbusters: Afterlife?**

*Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire* and [*Ghostbusters: Afterlife*](https://film.one/film/ghostbusters-afterlife) share the same family and the same weakness, and the earlier film is the stronger of the two. *Afterlife* gives Mckenna Grace a first hour of her own in a farmhouse before it starts retracing the 1984 original. *Frozen Empire* loses its family by the halfway point to a crowd of returning characters and repeated explanations, and only its opening chase and its comedy match what came before.

**Do you need to have seen the other Ghostbusters films before Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire?**

*Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire* follows on directly from [*Ghostbusters: Afterlife*](https://film.one/film/ghostbusters-afterlife), with the same Spengler family now living in the New York firehouse. You can follow the story without homework, since the film explains itself more than once, but the scenes with the 1984 team assume you know and like those men. It is not the best place to start; the original is.

**What should I watch after Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire?**

After *Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire*, try [*Ghostbusters*](https://film.one/film/ghostbusters) (1984, Fi1m 80): The original, where the jokes came first and the ghosts arrived to interrupt them. Then [*A Chinese Ghost Story*](https://film.one/film/a-chinese-ghost-story) (1987, Fi1m 82): Hong Kong ghosts, a tax collector and a romance with the dead, played at speed; and [*ParaNorman*](https://film.one/film/paranorman) (2012, Fi1m 76): A stop-motion boy who talks to the dead; funnier and sadder than it needs to be.

**What order should I watch the Ghostbusters films in?**

Release order is the safe choice for Ghostbusters, and it is the order [our collection page](https://film.one/collections/ghostbusters) lists them in. *Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire* is the most recent of the 4 Ghostbusters titles on Fi1m; before it comes [*Ghostbusters: Afterlife*](https://film.one/film/ghostbusters-afterlife). [The full order.](https://film.one/collections/ghostbusters.md)

### Reviews we read (24)

- **Radio Times**, Terry Staunton (4/5): The critic praises it as a hugely entertaining next chapter that returns the action to New York with strong performances, inventive effects and quality control maintained by a sharp script. Phoebe’s emotional arc and the ensemble comedy are highlighted as standouts. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/scifi/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review/)
- **The AV Club**, Manuel Betancourt (B-): A serviceable franchise entry that tugs on '80s nostalgia and replicates what has worked in the past without reinventing the wheel, delivering an amiable if brisk and pat time with a message about teamwork. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-movie-review-1851351083)
- **Total Film**, James Mottram (60/100, inferred): The critic finds it doesn't touch the original movies but is likeable enough overall, with a sharp script, funny performances from Acaster, Rudd and Nanjiani, and a creepy villain plus solid action sequences like the sewer dragon chase. Complaints focus on an unwieldy line-up, underuse of some OG cast, and predictable plot beats that make it only modestly exciting. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/ghostbuster-frozen-empire-review/)
- **Empire**, Alex Godfrey (40/100, inferred): The critic calls it an overpopulated mish-mash buckling under franchise legacy, with too many characters and fan-service that elicits sighs rather than smiles. Some entertaining ghouls, zippy action sequences, and funny supporting turns like James Acaster are singled out for praise amid the complaints about squandered opportunities and lack of substance for the new cast. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/ghostbusters-frozen-empire/)
- **The Guardian** (40/100, inferred): The critic views the sequel as an uninspiring, cut-and-paste duplication of the original film in story and tone, with an ancient ghost-god threat. It fails to fully utilize its young stars but is deemed not unenjoyable, though deeply unoriginal. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/24/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review-cut-and-paste-copy-of-the-original)
- **Screen Daily** (35/100, inferred): The critic finds the overstuffed action-comedy a clumsy mixture of nostalgia, scares, set pieces, sincerity and wisecracks that never gels. It notes enjoyable performances but concludes the series struggles to stay relevant and may be time for Sony to give up this ghost. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review/5191763.article)
- **IndieWire**, Kate Erbland (30/100, inferred): The film tries to resurrect something from the dead; the return to New York feels neither welcome nor new in this sequel to Afterlife. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review-1234965444/)
- **Slant Magazine**, Justin Clark (30/100, inferred): The film lacks conviction and is afraid to go extreme with its elements, resulting in a scattershot story with no real sense of danger that squanders its characters and feels cursed. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review-paul-rudd-carrie-coon/)
- **Time Out**, Helen O’Hara (30/100, inferred): The critic calls it a tired sequel that recycles old jokes and brings everything back to the original film in an overly stuffed and only occasionally fun spectral adventure. It faults the franchise for ghosting anything original or innovative. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-2024)
- **The Telegraph**, Robbie Collin (1/5): The critic calls the film a shameful, commercially desperate sequel with no ideas, minimal plot, and almost no ghost-busting, sustained only by franchise desperation. It lacks the original's charm and features a generic demon. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review/)
- **Vulture**, Bilge Ebiri (20/100, inferred): The film is witless, joyless, and dull, with no great action, no laugh-out-loud jokes, and artless emotions, though it at least avoids being repellent or offensive. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review-witless-joyless-dull.html)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Katie Walsh: The film is a perfectly fine but incredibly dull nostalgic sequel emblematic of Hollywood's IP obsession; it integrates lore a bit better than its predecessor but remains regurgitated nostalgia aimed at a kiddie crowd, though the cast appears to be having fun. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-03-21/review-ghostbusters-frozen-empire-paul-rudd-carrie-coone-finn-wolfhard-mckenna-grace)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Frank Scheck: The critic finds it a breezy, pleasurable if lightweight installment that balances laughs and scares well, with nice emotional moments in Phoebe's subplot, though it tries too hard at times to balance characters. It's a minor triumph in satisfying fans. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review-paul-rudd-carrie-coon-1235855556/)
- **The New York Times**, Amy Nicholson: The critic finds the overstuffed franchise entry an eclectic, enjoyable barrage of nonsense that crams in too many characters and ghosts but still delivers erratic laughs and a circus-like energy. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/21/movies/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review.html)
- **The Times** (★★☆☆☆): The critic sees the film as a ghost of its former self, with the story leaning on geriatric original stars tackling an icy demon while underusing the young cast and featuring arbitrary, vapid elements. The franchise is deemed long dead. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-film-review-nbkhrrgl9)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman: It is a bigger, rowdier and slightly funnier fan-service grab bag than 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife,' with more energized ghostbusting action and enough going on to connect, thanks in part to lively performances like Kumail Nanjiani's. [Read](https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review-paul-rudd-carrie-coon-1235945408/)
- **NME**, Nick Levine (4/5): The critic calls it a fun, enjoyable sequel that succeeds by embracing its world and characters comfortably, bringing the action back to New York with satisfying updates while keeping the spirit of the originals alive in a fresh way. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-bill-murray-3603547)
- **Consequence** (B-): The film is strongest when blending the original surviving cast with the newcomers through practical effects and some authentic scares, but script issues and too many characters bog it down. [Read](https://consequence.net/2024/03/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review/)
- **Digital Spy**, Ian Sandwell (70/100, inferred): The critic sees it as a clear improvement over Afterlife, with better balance of spooky elements, comedy, and new ghosts, plus more organic roles for the originals, but notes it still leans too much on the past and lacks full confidence in forging its own identity. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a60243972/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review/)
- **Den of Geek**, Joe George (3/5): The critic finds the film strongest when focusing on the new teen characters and family dynamics, especially Phoebe's story, but criticizes the overstuffed script and excessive nostalgic callbacks to the originals that pull focus and make it feel like a lesser entry. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review/)
- **/Film**, Ethan Anderton (5/10): The film is an ambitious but messy and ultimately unsatisfying sequel despite some decent laughs and exhilarating sequences. It struggles under too many characters and storylines while trying to expand the ghost lore. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1543794/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review-ghosts-blockbuster-past-hold-back-franchise-future/)
- **Polygon**, Austen Goslin (30/100, inferred): The film clings too tightly to the franchise’s past with hollow nostalgia, exposition-heavy dialogue, and little fun or scares, reducing it to corporate nostalgia-farming; Phoebe’s performance stands out as a rare bright spot. [Read](https://www.polygon.com/24106832/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review-paul-rudd-bill-murray)
- **Deadline**, Damon Wise: The film finds its groove as a fun, scary sequel that keeps the Ghostbusters flame alive. It highlights the warm chemistry between Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon along with inventive scares and strong performances from the younger cast. [Read](https://deadline.com/2024/03/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review-the-spooky-reboot-finds-its-groove-in-a-fun-scary-sequel/)
- **The Wrap**: The spirited sequel captures good vibes and the spirit of the series through its exceptional cast and memorable monsters but struggles with an illogical, overstuffed script full of plot holes and ignored solutions. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-review/)

## Details

- **Director:** Gil Kenan
- **Director:** Gil Kenan
- **Writer:** Jason Reitman, Gil Kenan
- **Cinematography:** Eric Steelberg
- **Editor:** Shane Reid, Nathan Orloff
- **Music:** Dario Marianelli
- **Production design:** Eve Stewart
- **Costume design:** Alexis Forte, Ruth Myers
- **Producer:** Jason Blumenfeld, Jason Reitman, Ivan Reitman
- **Cast:** Mckenna Grace as Phoebe Spengler; Paul Rudd as Gary Grooberson; Carrie Coon as Callie Spengler; Finn Wolfhard as Trevor Spengler; Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz; Kumail Nanjiani as Nadeem; Patton Oswalt as Dr. Hubert Wartzki; Celeste O'Connor as Lucky
- **Runtime:** 1h 55m
- **Certificate (MPA):** PG-13
- **Release (the US):** 22 March 2024
- **Genres:** Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy
- **Part of:** [Ghostbusters](https://film.one/collections/ghostbusters.md) · 4 of 4
- **Budget:** $100 million
- **Box office:** $202 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7Di42uUaF0

## Where to watch in the US

- Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, uhd

*Checked 2026-09-10.*

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, HR, IE, IN, IT, JP, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie 2024: Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *Ghostbusters* (1984), Fi1m 80: The original, where the jokes came first and the ghosts arrived to interrupt them — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/ghostbusters.md)
- *The Frighteners* (1996): Peter Jackson’s ghost comedy has a proper villain and Michael J. Fox charging by the hour
- *A Chinese Ghost Story* (1987), Fi1m 82: Hong Kong ghosts, a tax collector and a romance with the dead, played at speed — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-chinese-ghost-story.md)
- *ParaNorman* (2012), Fi1m 76: A stop-motion boy who talks to the dead; funnier and sadder than it needs to be — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/paranorman.md)
- *Attack the Block* (2011), Fi1m 84: Teenagers defend a south London estate from monsters, with a script that trusts them — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/attack-the-block.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/ghostbusters-frozen-empire