Haunted Mansion Ending Explained: Ghosts, Goofs, And Navigating Grief

Disney's newest attempt at turning a theme park ride into a feature film has arrived with the silly spook-fest with a heart of gold, "Haunted Mansion." Fans need no reminder that the beloved attraction made its name on the strength of humor, scares, and a unique approach to the classic haunted house setup that took full advantage of what Disney does best. After the 2003 Eddie Murphy-starring film came and went (though not before inspiring a bit of a cult following over the intervening years), all eyes were trained on director Justin Simien and his star-studded take on the beloved IP.

The basic structure isn't too far afield from what audiences might expect: a grieving widower named Ben Matthias (LaKeith Stanfield) has given up on his astrophysicist passions and his dabbles in the supernatural, turning into an avowed skeptic with absolutely no patience for the ghost-obsessives around him in New Orleans. When single mother Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) and her son Travis (Chase Dillon) move into a severely discounted mansion that houses all manner of creepy goings-on, they recruit Ben and his high-tech camera to find proof of spirits from beyond. Once the rest of the gang enters the picture, the rules of the story are quickly established and the enjoyable ensemble cast each take on their own roles to help save the day.

But it wouldn't be a Disney movie without much more of an emotional component to it. Ben, still in mourning over his dearly departed wife, naturally forges a bond with Gabbie and Travis. But soon he and Travis, who's still coming to terms with the death of his father, must learn some tough lessons about letting go of their grief despite the temptation to be reunited with their late loved ones.

How do you get a dizzying cast of colorful characters to willingly subject themselves to a haunted house and, more to the point, actually stay there once things start getting undeniably spooky? "Haunted Mansion" finds an ingenious solution to this logistical hang-up, establishing that anyone who freely crosses the threshold of the creepy manor will subsequently be haunted by a ghost that follows them no matter where they go. Recruited by Owen Wilson's Father Kent (who we eventually learn isn't even a priest in the first place), Ben soon joins up with Tiffany Haddish's psychic Harriet, Danny DeVito's professor/historian Bruce, and an extended cameo by Jamie Lee Curtis' Madame Leota as they seek to untangle the mysteries at the heart of the mansion.

Ultimately, after a séance gone horribly wrong and numerous other hijinks along the way, our heroes discover the central problem that they must attempt to solve. With 999 ghosts currently inhabiting the mansion, only they can prevent the villainous spirit Alistair Crump (better known as Hatbox Ghost, unfortunately portrayed by Jared Leto) from capturing the thousandth soul that would allow him to break free of the property's confines and wreak havoc on the world. Coincidentally, poor Bruce is just a little too old for such excitement and falls victim to an ill-timed heart attack. With his passing within the manse, Crump would have all he needs to be set free. And if not him, then young Travis stands out as a similarly enticing victim as he's manipulated into thinking that he could visit his own late father.

With the cast split up to fend off various ghosts, only Ben is able to pull his newfound friend back from the brink.

The ghosts eventually mount a full-scale attack, Alistair Crump gains more and more power with every passing minute as the full moon draws near, and the situation seems as dire as it ever has before. Thankfully, a breakthrough occurs when our ragtag team of ghostbusters realize that the key to success comes from recovering items that used to be in Alistair's possession when he was alive. Cue the field trip to his own historical manor, which has hilariously been turned into a tourist attraction featuring a number of familiar cameos, like Winona Ryder and Dan Levy as polar opposite tour guides. Returning to the mansion with their prize in hand, the final act takes a notable departure from the typical gags up to that point and instead positions the emotional arcs of both Ben and Travis as the biggest priorities.

Travis, lured by the Hatbox Ghost into a foreboding basement that he thinks will reunite him with his long-lost father, only barely turns away when convinced by Ben to join him in the land of the living and forge new connections instead of wallowing in his grief. But as the final stages of our team's plan come together and the action shifts outside the mansion to the adjoining graveyard, even the help of his friends can't fully dissuade Ben from succumbing to his own emotional turmoil and accepting Alistair's sinister proposal to cross over into the great beyond. Haunted by the fact that his wife never once visited him from beyond the grave, as he tearfully shares with the group earlier in the film, it becomes painfully clear that this is the one big test that Ben must confront in order to come to terms with his loss.

Who could confidently state that they know the "right" way to cope with grief and profound feelings of regret and loss? "Haunted Mansion" takes the novel approach of avoiding easy answers and once-size-fits-all life lessons, instead emphasizing more personal methods that apply to different individuals on our own unique journeys. For Travis, he finds solace in his own youth and the connection he has with his mother. For Ben, at a radically different stage in his life but equally in need of comfort, accepting that his wife truly loved him and knew that he loved her — despite the angry words that passed between them in the final interaction they ever had in life — gives him the strength to trust in something much bigger than himself.

Dragged out to the graveyard in front of Alistair and his taunting ghosts, Ben seems to come right up to the edge of giving in to his feelings of pain and hopelessness ... until his friends arrive to do their part in sending Alistair back to the spirit world. With a little help from Madame Leota and the combined strength of everyone working together, our heroes finally become a true team and trap the dreaded Hatbox Ghost in his own grave — preventing him from accomplishing his evil goals and allowing the spirits he held under his thrall to escape their listless and torturous existence in limbo.

The final moments of "Haunted Mansion" pick up later on after Gabbie and Travis have made the mansion into a true home for themselves, and a much improved and more mentally healthy Ben seems open to the possibility of joining this family, punctuated by a ghostly rendition of the beloved "Grim Grinning Ghosts" musical number. A happy ending, indeed.