We have a remake of the 2003 film The Haunted Mansion titled Haunted Mansion scheduled to come out on July 28, 2023. Does the film find the magic of the original? I share my thoughts on the film with you below and let you know if it’s worth checking out when it hits theaters.

“Haunted Mansion” is about a woman and her son who enlist a motley crew of so-called spiritual experts to help rid their home of supernatural squatters. The film boasts a star-studded cast LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Dan Levy, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jared Leto.

In Theaters on July 28, 2023

The film begins with us meeting Gabbie and Travis, who are moving into this big mansion, hoping to start over. Upon entering the mansion, Travis begins to see weird things happen, and Gabbie tells him to relax until she comes across a ghost herself. Of course, they run and say they are never coming back, but the ghosts have other plans. No matter how they tried, they were forced to return.

Enter Kent, a priest who drops by Ben’s house to attempt to get him to take photos with his camera to catch the ghost in action. Like Gabbie and Travis, Ben enters the house and cannot do anything until he returns. Ben, Gabbie, Travis, and the medium they hired, Harriet, all try to figure out what is happening and how they can get out of this house.

My expectations for this film were moderate as I wasn’t a huge fan of the original, but this cast is loaded with people I love watching on the big screen. When I walked out of the film, I was blown away by Katie Dippold’s profound script that explores grief in a mature, honest way while keeping the laughs around.

Ben is grieving the loss of his wife while Travis is grieving the loss of his father, and how their stories intertwine how they did was so beautifully done. The idea of grief is something that isn’t easy to tackle, and most of the time, it is overshadowed, but in reality, we all face it daily, and Dippold’s script carefully reminds us that even in loss, we can still feel them around us.

One of the more powerful moments we see in the film is when Kent explains that every time he thinks about his lost loved one, he hears the thing that brought them together, and it’s a gentle reminder that they are gone but never forgotten. It reminded me that when I see butterflies, I can’t help but think about my sister-in-law Rachel, whom I miss dearly.

Of course, the star-studded cast delivers the goods, but LaKeith Standfield is a bonafide star in this movie. I loved his ability to command our attention in several ways. Stanfield steals the show, whether he is making us laugh or how he flipped a switch in those more emotional moments. He and Owen Wilson played perfectly off of each other. I swear Wilson brings out the best in anyone he is acting opposite of. Dawson, Devito, and Dillon are all great on the screen, with Haddish making you laugh endlessly.

Overall, Haunted Mansions is one of the biggest surprises of the summer. The film is funny, heartfelt and has an ensemble cast that will make audiences enjoy the ride. I will say I am not 100% how kids under ten will handle the film as it is a little long and the topic can be deep, but teenagers and above will enjoy it.