If I close my eyes, I can still perfectly remember watching Beetlejuice as a kid on the basement couch in my parent’s house, laughing hysterically at just about everything the ghost with the most had to say.
Though Jenna Ortega may have harbored a childhood fear of Beetlejuice, it was one of my absolute favorite movies (right alongside Addams Family Values, making the actress the queen of all of my sequel dreams come to life).
It’s only been just over a decade and a half for me as compared to many viewers who have been waiting double that for this sequel, but I was still fully prepared to go into the highly anticipated sequel with natural skepticism. The 1988 cult classic was not an easy act to follow, especially to my inner 8-year-old and her years of repeated Lydia Deetz Halloween costumes.
The only way to accurately do a Beetlejuice sequel in a way that would both resonate with new and old audiences alike is to tap into the utter ridiculousness that made the first installment so lovable, and that’s exactly what Beetlejuice Beetlejuice does. The original gang is back together, with Winona Ryder starring as Lydia Deetz, Michael Keaton (unmistakably) as Betelgeuse, two-time Emmy winner Catherine O’Hara (Schitt$ Creek, The Nightmare Before Christmas) as Delia Deetz, with new cast members Justin Theroux (Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, The Leftovers), Monica Bellucci (Spectre, The Matrix films), Arthur Conti (House of the Dragon) in his feature film debut, with Emmy nominee Jenna Ortega (Wednesday, Scream VI) as Lydia’s daughter, Astrid, and Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe (Poor Things, At Eternity’s Gate).
The visuals are as delightfully wacky as they are immersive, the continued backstories of the characters slide into modern day elements almost too well, Ortega steps into the role of the obligatory angsty teen flawlessly, and even the original characters like Belucci’s Delores and Theoroux’s Rory are the perfect degree of, well, strange and unusual. Even the film’s cheesier moments come across as more campy and wild than the aforementioned.
Spoilers ahead!
Lydia has the perfect job for a modern day setting and as predicted, her daughter Astrid stands as playful revenge for the angsty teen she once was. When we first meet the gang, it’s on the set of Lydia’s show Ghost House, in which she enters homes to detect whether or not they are haunted. Astrid, who, in a flawless shadow of her mother in the first film, is practically begging to watch the world burn, is further agitated by Lydia due to the fact that she seemingly is unable to connect with “the only ghost that matters.” We learn, then, that the two character’s stories are even more parallel, as Astrid has lost her father.
The trope of a carbon-copy offspring who refuses to see it that way is one that could easily feel tired, but maybe it’s the stunning dynamic of Ryder and Ortega, the beloved essence of the first film, or a combination of both, that ensures this isn’t the case. Astrid’s one liners are bold and delightful, with enough true emotional moments that create the same foundation that the first film did. Just like a young Lydia, Astrid is riddled with heartbreak from the death of a beloved parent and would do absolutely anything to see him again, thus unleashing a spiral of absolute madness, thrown into action by the discovery of an advertisement for Betelgeuse’s services and a run-in with Jeremy, a deceptively charming ghost with murderous secrets.
Though this will likely surprise no one, Astrid takes a leap into the afterlife—unknowingly reciting the incantation from the Handbook for the Recently Deceased and switching places with Jeremy, who seeks to reclaim his life. Lydia, after learning about Jeremy’s past, follows close behind her with a favor from Beetleguese, who once again wants to marry Lydia, but with shifting motives (enter a slightly confusing subplot about an ex-wife that we will get to later). Where Lydia and Astrid differ, however, is that Astrid gets to do the one thing Lydia first jumped into the afterlife to do but was unable: to see the face that mattered most to her. She spots Richard as he’s working in a toll booth to the afterlife, and he proceeds to rescue the girls from the ensuing chaos, and the three share a beautifully tender moment, though they know they must leave him behind.
The sweetness, obviously, does not last. With a sandworm unleashed, a villainous ex-wife devoured, and Betelgeuse banished for definitely not the last time, the Deetz family emerges from the madness, mostly all in one piece. (We’ll miss you, Delia.) Lydia’s final showdown with her nightmares and the lingering specter of Betelgeuse leaves an open-ended sense of dread as she confronts her deepest fears of the past and the possibility that he may never truly be gone.
What the film seems to lack, though maybe some viewers will find that in a franchise like this, it’s not the most important detail, is explanation. The runtime of just over 90 minutes is not doing a film over 30 years in the making any justice. There isn’t a great deal of connection to the original events of the movie, and almost no mention of the Maitlands. Much of the film takes place in the afterlife, where a subplot involving Beetlejuice’s ex-wife trying to avenge him accounts for long-winded scenes that don’t seem to add a great deal to the film’s stories. However, the scenes are visually gorgeous and pack some fantastic one liners.
Tie this in with a visually and conceptually epic wedding scene (a perfect way to include the sandworms at seemingly the eleventh hour I might add) that I feel should have included even the slightest bit of Jump In The Line (okay, maybe I’m just nostalgic), and the film becomes a visual delight packed with nostalgia worthy jokes, cult-classic aesthetics, and even some closure, 30 years in the making.
Find showtimes to visit the afterlife yourself here!