Teenage Ghost Punk, written and directed by Mike Cramer, is the story of Amanda Poplawski (Grace Madigan), who’s forced to adjust to life in a new town after her mom Carol (Adria Dawn) decides to relocate from rural Michigan to an old Victorian house near Chicago for work. The first twenty minutes or so are just her and her brother Adam (Noah Kitsos) as they works their way through the intricacies of fitting in at a new school when suddenly faces and music start to be seen and heard at night. The family looks to get to the bottom of it with the help of a sassy medium (Lynda Shadrake) and a team super legit paranormal investigator bros (and token girl) that got by the acronym S.P.I.T, the two butting heads throughout with their different methods of contacting the dead. It turns out the haunting is being caused by Brian (Jack Cramer), a charming loner who can only be seen by Amanda and who teaches her the secrets of love and punk rock music.

I wasn’t too hopeful going into this, I’m not the biggest fan of romantic comedies in general, and once you start adding in teenagers, things can go south real quick. I’m happy to report then that Teenage Ghost Punk is pretty watchable, even for someone not too into the genre. It feels like one of those supernatural Disney Channel shows where the parents just don’t get it and the bad boys are just the good boys with leather jackets and poorly-combed hair. Amanda is your standard Disney protagonist, pretty, vaguely popular but still grounded enough to come off sympathetic. The mother role is also as expected, being given just enough screen time to look incredulous about all the obviously paranormal things going on before inevitably coming around in the emotional climax, that is when she isn’t being sexually harassed by a bizarre character that only exists to make crude double entendres toward her and the other women she works with. Brian is the sort of kid-tested, mother-approved cool guy you only see in these productions aimed exclusively at teenagers, but he’s likable enough, his charisma enhanced by Cramer’s expressive face. Continuing this theme, Amanda’s brother Adam is the obnoxious nerdy little brother character I first remember in the form of Ferguson from Clarissa Explains it All, though I’m certain the trope predates that show. They really push the trope to its extremes here, with Adam at one point being shown reading a book on “Annoying Your Sister”.

What makes Teenage Ghost Punk stand out, however, are its side characters. Along with Brian, the town is haunted by a cast of misfits from throughout history that get together to play cards (along with a bunch of creepy women in white gowns that roam  the streets, but they avoid them, because, you know, they’re creepy). These characters don’t get nearly the screen time of our leads, but they help flesh out the lore, add their own flavor to the relationship between Brian and Amanda, and just generally give the impression that more thought was put into this beyond making a paint-by-numbers teen romance. Not that it transcends the genre entirely, but it isn’t trying to. This is not a film adults are likely going to want to put on for themselves, but if you need to entertain an older child and young teen, there are far more painful things you could put on for them to watch.