Ghosts: The Possession Of Button House is the spin-off movie from the BBC TV series, which has run 5 series so far, even though I’ve only seen the first one, as that was enough. Still, you don’t need any prior knowledge to watch this film.
I see that the fifth and final series ended in 2023 with Alison (Charlotte Ritchie – Code Of Silence) and Mike Cooper (Kiell Smith-Bynoe – Dreamland) having been been convinced to sell the house by the ghosts, to a hotel firm, and that they were last seen as an elderly couple, looking back on their time.
This film just assumes they’re still a young couple, as I remember them, with Button House being empty, except when a group of kids – with all the diversity tick boxes ticked – break in, play with a Ouija board and get a fright from the residents we’re used to.
The ghosts get a postcard from Alison and Mike, but because… well… they’re ghosts, it lands face-down and they can’t turn it over to read it. The fact it hit the deck as it did, gave me one of the 2 or 3 big laughs I had in this film.
Because reasons, Jack (Scott Ellis Watson – I Swear) ends up body-swapping with Julian Fawcett MP (Simon Farnaby – The Magic Faraway Tree), meaning the former becomes a ghost, and Julian becomes full-bodied, as well as wearing a carbon copy of Jack’s clothes, meaning he finally gets some trousers!
On the downside, Jack ends up feeling like Marty McFly, in that if the resurrected MP – who everyone still sees as Jack – doesn’t complete what he needs to do and get back, Jack will cease to exist. As for what Julian needs to accomplish… I think that information actually left my head while I was still watching the film, the plot was THAT surface-level.
There’s also a subplot about a group of hippies trying to disrupt the building of a golf course on the grounds of Button House – rather making the actual place in the title pointless, because nothing much happens inside it – but I do recall the other big laugh, when Alison encounters Julian while he’s out from the house, recognises him AS Julian, sees that he has Jack’s phone, to which the ghost replies, “That’s no use to me. Who am I gonna call?”
Ghosts: The Possession Of Button House is everything you expect. It’s basically a Christmas TV movie, but put up on the big screen. Still, it’ll take a few million at the box office and will suffice with its target audience, whilst remaining inoffensive, other than for the fact that while it’s a PG certificate, it’s okay to see a man’s bare bottom, but not a woman’s.
As an aside, both of this film’s Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Emily Lloyd-Saini, also pop up in Wicker, which I watched right before watching this!
Additionally, while some TV series have changed from filming in a standard 16:9 aspect ratio to a supposed-widescreen effect with 2.00:1, Ghosts always maintained its 16:9 ratio. So, given that this film uses 2.00:1…. er.. why the fuck? As I’ve said many times with similar films, that aspect ratio means the film fits on ZERO conventional movie screens! It should either have gone with 1.85:1 – so, similar to the regular series, or for a better effect, gone for a more cinematic 2.39:1, to give it some pizzazz… but, no. Most cinema screens in the UK are 2.39:1, and so this film will just be floating in the middle of it… Okay, ghostly floating, but still… I say, director Simon Hynd… what the fuck is wrong with you??
Ghosts: The Possession Of Button House is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 97 minutes
Release date: October 23rd 2026
Studio: Lionsgate Movies UK
Aspect Ratio: 2.00:1
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 5/10
Director: Simon Hynd
Producers: Andy Brunskill, Alison Carpenter, Debra Hayward, Alison Owen
Writers: Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, Ben Willbond
Music: Sunna Wehrmeijer
Cast:
Julian Fawcett MP: Simon Farnaby
Kitty: Lolly Adefope
Thomas Thorne: Mathew Baynton
Lady Fanny Button: Martha Howe-Douglas
Pat Butcher: Jim Howick
Robin: Laurence Rickard
The Captain: Ben Willbond
Jack: Scott Ellis Watson
Lee: Sidhant Anand
Sammy: Eden Hollingsworth
Airpods: Tom Packham
Leon: Phill Langhorne
Gemma: Sarah Paul
Alison Cooper: Charlotte Ritchie
Mike Cooper: Kiell Smith-Bynoe
Linda: Dystin Johnson
Vivienne: Janice Connolly
Janine: Sian Clifford
Richard Move: Rufus Jones
Danno: John-Luke Roberts
Barclay: Geoff McGivern
Salad: Cleo Adams
AJ: Alexa Goodall
Kingsy: Hugo McGinn
Lulu: Lacey Leigh Payne
Mia: Kylo Kirk, Luna Kirk
Sammy’s Gran: Cathy Tyson
Graeme: Joe Wilkinson
Gwen: Annette Holland
D.I. Quinn: Emily Lloyd-Saini
D.C. Weaver: Amy Gledhill
Havers: Peter Sandys-Clarke
P.C. Hobart: Bryony Twydle
P.C. Coulter: Gurjeet Singh
Sergeant Busey: Darren Strange
P.C. Humbol: Anshula Bain
D.S. Franklin: Ella Kenion
D.C. Hunt: Matt Rentell
Police Officer PC147: Lee Byford (uncredited)
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.