In 1904, the New York Fire Department arrives at The Manhattan Adventurers Society because of
a room that is expelling a lot of smoke. However when the firefighters arrive, the smoke is sucked
back inside. One of the men touches the door and his hand begins to freeze, so his partners have
to pull him away. Then the firefighters break the door down and are shocked to find dozens of
frozen corpses and ice everywhere while an unknown language plays from a phonograph. Among the ice
spikes, a mysterious figure in armor holds an orb containing an ancient evil. When the firefighters
try to grab it, the orb opens and causes all the bodies to shatter. Inside the orb, a pair of
eyes glow with malice. In the present, Callie, her boyfriend Gary, and her children Phoebe and Trevor
have moved to New York from Summerville to become full-time Ghostbusters. Callie is the daughter of
one of the old Ghostbuster team members, so it’s become a family business. A terrifying ghost has
escaped from the sewer and is causing trouble all over Manhattan, so the new team starts chasing it
in the car as it hits other vehicles with manhole covers. A special seat is pulled out so Phoebe
can shoot the proton blaster at the ghost, but the driving causes her to miss a lot and her shots end
up damaging various buildings. Once they’re close enough, Trevor releases a remote controlled trap,
but this is still not enough to catch the ghost so a drone trap comes out next. Callie guides
the drone toward the ghost and successfully captures it. The family celebrates and Gary
gets distracted, causing him to lose control of the car and crash into a rack of city bicycles.
People on the streets record everything with their phones and soon the team appears on the news. The
damage they’ve caused is seen in a negative light, so Mayor Peck calls the team to his office to
scold them for what they’ve done to the city and for bringing along Phoebe, who is still a minor.
Afterward the team returns to headquarters, which is the same office the old Ghostbusters used to
work in. Remembering the mayor’s threats, Callie and Gary decide that Phoebe should have a normal
life and is kicked out of the team. Phoebe doesn’t take it well but her complaints are ignored. Then
Gary and Callie put the ghost in their containment unit, which takes more effort than usual but they
don’t know why. Thankfully the light turns green, meaning the ghost is successfully contained.
Meanwhile Ray from the old Ghostbuster team and Podcast have an online show. Using an Aurascope,
they measure the spiritual energy of everyday objects to try to find a connection to the
afterlife. A woman brings a watch from her late husband, but Ray gets no readings and Podcast just
smashes it with a hammer. Later when Phoebe comes to visit, she discovers that their shop has a
bunch of little entities known as Marshmallow Men running around his room. She thinks they’re cute,
but Podcast smashes one down as he explains they’re a plague. Suddenly Nadeem enters the
shop and the mere sight of his box sends all the Marshmallow Man running to hide in fear.
The box has a bunch of family antiques that Nadeem wants to sell and Ray is immediately curious about
the orb, noticing the glyphs on it. He uses the Aurascope on it, but the energy emitted by the orb
causes a surge that breaks the device and triggers a short earthquake. A freezing energy can be seen
moving through the street and eventually hitting the wall with the ghost container. Ray immediately
buys the orb and Nadeem leaves with the money as fast as possible, noticing the flame on a food
cart outside suddenly growing larger than usual for no reason. At the Ghostbusters’ headquarters,
Gary finds the damage on the wall and calls Janine, the secretary of the previous team,
who promises to send an expert to check on this. Upstairs, Trevor notices some green slime leaking
through the roof and goes to the attic to investigate. He finds a pile of empty food
packaging that moves as something naps underneath, so he takes a closer look and is shocked to find
Slimer, who jumps out, flies through Trevor, and escapes by passing through the wall. Sometime
later, the team gets a ghost alert and leaves on a mission, but they refuse to take Phoebe.
She ends up going to the park to play chess by herself, but suddenly the pieces start moving
on their own. A ghost named Melody appears, and her shape looks flamey because she died
in a fire. While they play, Melody admits she has very low chances of crossing over because she has
unfinished business. The next day, parabiologist Lars comes to check on the damaged wall,
and when the unit shakes they confirm the ghosts are trying to get out. Former Ghostbuster Winston
brings the original design of the containment unit, which was created by Callie’s late father.
They conclude the unit is running out of space after forty years of compiling spiritual waste.
Winston also informs them that the blast that caused the earthquake created a rift which could
potentially act as a gateway to the other side. Since obviously this building won’t hold for long,
Winston takes the team to a secret lab where he’s keeping the Paranormal Research Center. All kinds
of scientists gather here to study supernatural phenomena. Trevor gets to reunite with his friend
Lucky. who is working there as well. Whenever Ray finds an item with supernatural energy, he sends
it to the lab, and Lars puts them in a machine that separates the ghost from the object. Using
the original design as a guide, they’ve also built a bigger container unit, so they’ll have to start
moving the ghost from headquarters by bringing them with traps. Not all the ghosts are kept
in the unit, some of them are in special cells for further study. Phoebe is freaked out by a
skull while Gary and Callie step back when a ghost pukes at the glass. There’s also a possessor that
likes jumping from device to device. Later in the evening, the team gets another mission and leaves
without Phoebe again. At that moment a second emergency call comes in, so Phoebe and Podcast go
to take care of it behind the adults’ backs. They make it to a restaurant and discover the ghost is
Melody, so Phoebe doesn’t dare to shoot. Melody immediately escapes and Phoebe reacts too late,
causing the windows to break. Meanwhile in the lab, Lars and Lucky are working with Ray’s
objects. When it’s the orb’s turn, all the ghosts in the cells feel rather disturbed. The machine
fails to remove the spirit and suddenly the lab goes through a power surge. Some cell windows
break and the ghosts start moving to escape, but at that moment Lars fixes the power and everything
goes back to normal. Then he grabs the orb, only for his hand to start freezing. Lars drops the orb
right before he can lose his arm. Moments later, Melody visits Phoebe in her room. Phoebe shows her
around and Melody almost touches the containment unit but stops just in time. Melody also keeps
playing with some matches, so Phoebe explains that’s the object that’s anchoring her to this
world. It turns out these matches started the fire that killed her family. In the lab, the orb sends
out a freezing blast that hits the unit again and shuts down the power in the city. The blast moves
near Melody, who says she’s working as fast as she can but sounds hesitant about having to use Phoebe
for the plan. The following day, Trevor puts down a trap in the attic and covers it with junk food
before hiding with a proton blaster ready. Slimer comes out to eat, but before Trevor can shoot it,
another earthquake hits the city. The team rushes to the containment unit and finds a huge hole in
the wall plus frost all over the place. Afterward the team returns to the lab and learns that the
orb is also freezing. Grabbing it with a tool, Lars shows the orb to the Marshmallow Men, who
feel so attracted to it that they splash against the window. Apparently the orb can mind-control
ghosts, it also freezes certain devices when it gets too close. Desperate for more information,
Lucky, Trevor, and Lars go to see Nadeem, who shows them his grandmother’s special room. There
are lots of antiques there, like some weird horns and the armor from the beginning. Lars realizes
that everything in the room is made out of brass, which can trap ghosts. When the trio uses the
Aurascop on Nadeem, there’s a strong reaction, so they bring him to the lab with them. After
connecting Nadeem to a machine, former Ghostbuster Peter starts asking some strange questions.
Suddenly he throws a pen at Nadeem, who gets angry and causes a nearby flame to grow bigger. As an
argument ensues and Peter throws more pens, Nadeem’s anger grows and so does the flame,
which means he has the power to manipulate fire. In the meantime, Podcast is reviewing the video he
took at the lab and discovers a weird ancient language coming out of the orb. He, Phoebe,
and Ray decide to consult an expert and leave on Ray's old bike. They go to the New York Public
Library and talk to a scientist who translates the words from the video while showing them a carving
on an old book. Centuries earlier, a power-mad king sought help from a powerful entity called
Garraka, who had his own plans to bring a new ice age. Nadeem’s ancestors were a team known as the
Fire Masters, who used their abilities to imprison Garraka in the orb and steal the horns that gave
him his power. If Garraka becomes free, New York would experience “the death chill”, which kills
people with a cold formed from chilling fear. The scientist also shows them some wax cylinders with
old recordings, including one from the Manhattan Adventurers Society. That group used to love
stealing relics and many years ago tried opening the orb, which killed them all. The group hears
the recording and finds the same words from the video. Suddenly the cylinder starts shaking and
jumps out of the machine to land in a trash bag, which starts going crazy around the library. The
team starts following it and when Ray walks among the shelves, he’s blocked by the same library
ghost from the 80s. The group follows the ghost outside and finds it resting on the lion statue.
Ray tries to reach for it, but suddenly the lion starts moving because the ghost left the bag to
possess the statue instead. As people run away in panic, Phoebe gets a proton blaster from the
bike and shoots the lion, causing it to explode. Moments later, Peck announces that he’s shutting
down the Ghostbusters, which has been his wish since the old days. Phoebe tries to protest, but
Peck says it’s either this or going to prison. In the evening, the team returns to headquarters and
discovers all their equipment has been taken by the police. While Phoebe argues with her parents,
Ray shows Nadeem the damage on the containment room and tells him he’s the next Fire Master, so
he needs to start training to save the world. The first exercise is to move a flame from a
lighter to a candle. As Nadeem moves his hand, the flame moves as well, but it doesn’t do much
yet. Meanwhile Phoebe goes to the park again and meets with Melody. The girls chat and get to bond,
so Phoebe admits she would like to be a ghost, giving her an idea. They go to the lab and Phoebe
enters the machine, then Melody activates it to temporarily separate her soul from her body. The
procedure works, but Melody apologizes and looks sad. It turns out she’s working for Garraka,
who can’t control living beings, only ghosts. Since he needs a living person to open the orb,
now he can control Phoebe’s ghost to make her say the words. The ghost is still connected
to her body, so it repeats the words as well and the orb begins opening while Melody explains she
had to do this because it’s her only chance to see her family again. Soon the orb comes apart
and a deep darkness takes over the room. Garraka appears and says he’ll destroy the world while his
power forces Phoebe’s ghost back into her body. At that moment Lucky shows up and tries to fire
a proton blast at Garraka, but he quickly freezes and shatters the stream before disappearing. While
the rest of the team comes to free Phoebe, Garraka enters the shop in Nadeem’s building
and freezes the clerk to death. Then he makes his way to Nadeem’s apartment, where he retrieves his
horns. As soon as he puts them on, he regains his true form and all his power. Soon a dark
cloud appears over the city and starts freezing the whole area, causing ice spikes to appear
to destroy property and kill people without mercy. Both the old and new teams gather at
headquarters to discuss ideas and Nadeem shows off his training, but he still can only do the basics.
Fortunately Lars has some equipment in his van, so the team starts getting ready to fight while
Lucky points out their weapons won’t be enough considering what happened in the lab. Phoebe
remembers that brass can trap ghosts and the orb was made with it, so she starts melting
some brass to reinforce her blaster. On the roof, Trevor and Lucky see a tricycle rolling on its
own on the deserted street, so they guess it’s the possessor ghost that escaped from the lab and rush
back inside. As the storm outside gets worse, the tricycle hits the door, causing it to blow
out of its hinges. A red light that represents the possessor hits the Ghostbusters sign and makes it
fall before going inside and possessing the car. The vehicle moves back and everyone jumps out of
the way just in time. Lars goes into another room because he heard a noise, but it’s one of
the little ghosts from the lab, who shoots goo at his face. The red light soon leaves the car
by possessing a paper plane, then it jumps into Lucky’s proton pack. It raises the blaster and
tries to shoot Trevor, but Gary pushes him away and Nadeem uses his power to redirect the blast
out the window. Podcast smashes the pack with his hammer and the ghost jumps out to possess a pizza,
only to end up devoured by Slimer. At that moment the ice starts covering the headquarters building.
Phoebe goes to the unit room and finds Melody, who swears she didn’t want to hurt anybody and
only wanted to see her family. Furious, Phoebe makes her see that nobody can help her move on,
Melody has to find it in herself. Then Garraka finally arrives and blocks the front door with
more ice spikes. As the building starts shaking and coming apart, the Ghostbusters shoot all their
proton blasters at the same time, but Garraka freezes all the streams in seconds. Suddenly
Nadeem appears wearing the Fire Master armor and tries to use the lighter to summon a flame,
but it’s not working because he used all the fluid in training. Garraka grabs the lighter and
destroys it before shooting a blast that creates a chasm in the floor and traps everyone with more
ice spikes. Then Garraka says an incantation to release all the ghosts from the unit, which makes
a huge energy blast to shoot up into the sky. All the ghosts from the unit escape and start
terrorizing the city, but Phoebe can’t see Melody anymore. She rushes upstairs and fires her blaster
at Garraka, who can’t freeze this reinforced energy so he shoots frost at Phoebe instead.
The girl instantly freezes and Garraka tries to extract her soul, but at that moment Melody
reappears and lights her last match. Now Nadeem can create a fireball that he shoots at Garraka,
and the strong heat melts the ice in the room, releasing everyone. Phoebe shoots her blaster
again and has trouble standing still with so much power in her hands, so her family helps her hold
it. While the combined effort of the reinforced blast and Nadeem’s fireball overpower Garraka,
Podcast rushes to the car and releases the drone trap. However the Marshmallow Men have also
escaped the lab and mess with him, causing him to lose control of the trap and allowing Garraka to
knock it down. The older Ghostbusters realize that since Garraka released all the ghosts,
the containment unit is now empty. They run to the basement to activate it, and thanks to everyone
working together, Garraka is dragged into the unit and the light turns green, confirming the
bad guy has been successfully sealed. Afterward Melody gives Phoebe her match box and says goodbye
before finally moving on. The team comes out and discovers all the ice has melted. Perk appears
to try to scold them again, but all the locals are showing their support and Perk has no choice
but to play along, allowing the Ghostbusters to function for now. Now all the ghosts that
Garraka released are loose in the city, so the team jumps back into action to start cleaning.
On their way out, Phoebe calls Gary “dad” for the first time. Some time later, when a truck
driver stops at a gas station, the Marshmallow Men use the chance to steal away his vehicle.