'Ghosts: The Possession of Button House' Review: The Ghosts Have Never Felt More Alive
By Alex Gilston - October 19, 2026
It’s been three years since Button House officially closed its doors as Ghosts ended its beloved critically acclaimed run on our telly screens in December 2023. Compared to some tv shows that have made the leap from the silver to the big screen the Ghosts finale was a brilliant ending that could have stayed just that. However that doesn’t mean that in February this year when Ghosts: The Possession of Button House was announced that fans of the show weren’t absolutely ecstatic that we were going to get more action from our favourite dead people. The Possession of Button House is absolutely everything you’d want for a cinematic transition; The charm, heart, and major laughs translate to a big screen adventure that is a love letter to fans of the hit BBC show.
What is Ghosts: The Possession of Button House about?
Ghosts: The Possession of Button House continues on from the ending of the show. The ghosts are still confined to Button House after Alison and Mike left to start a new life with their baby. They’re trying to keep themselves occupied as the creature comforts they got used to whilst Alison was living in Button House are no longer available to them. The house and its surrounding areas are set to be developed into a golf course, so it is all cordoned off. The ghosts are excited as it means life will once again return to the house, but when a bunch of protestors turn up to occupy the gardens the plans are under threat. One night when a group of kids trespass into Button House to do a séance the ghosts find out they can possess a living body. So Julian (Simon Farnaby), the pantless Tory MP, takes Jack’s (Scott Ellis Watson) body to recruit the help of Alison to stop the protestors.
There is always a worry when a TV show confirms it’s making an adaptation into a film. Just recently Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man was a serviceable sequel to the TV show but didn’t necessarily justify its existence. Or you have the more successful run of film sequels to Downton Abbey, three crowd pleasing films that up the stakes without overstaying their welcome. It will come as a relief to fans of Ghosts that it lands firmly in the latter.
The action is split between the Ghosts at Button House trying to comfort Jack who has been turned into one of them due to Julian possessing his body, and Julian in Jack’s body traversing the outside world for the first time, for him, in 30 years. Some great comedy comes from this, like him despairing at the price of train tickets, or trying his best to act like a teenage boy and utterly failing. This idea of possession is also totally fresh from the show, a new angle that is perfect for a big screen outing.
Most importantly the thing that survives the jump from small to big screen in Ghosts is the incredible level of emotion that the show was known for. Jack is a foster child who isn’t sure if his foster family want him anymore, and it’s up to the Ghosts at Button House to try and get through to him to open up. It leaves for a beautiful through line of finding where you truly belong. As well as new characters being fleshed out, the ghosts themselves all get their moment in the sun. Particular revelations with Pat (Jim Howick) and The Captain (Ben Willbond) will mean a lot to fans and will be sure-fire tearjerker moments.
If this is a one off then Ghosts: The Possession of Button House will be sure to keep the franchise’s legacy alive. It ups the stakes and it has a plethora of moments for fans of the show to sink their teeth into. It could even work as its own standalone story for people who haven’t seen the show to jump onto. One thing is for sure, the ghosts of Button House have never felt more alive.
'Ghosts: The Possession of Button House' releases in cinemas on October 23, 2026.
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Alex Gilston
Senior Writer
Alex is a film critic, and self confessed Disney expert. His passion for film is huge, so to be able to write and talk about them is a personal dream of his.
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