Violet Ramis Stiel, the eldest daughter of late actor and filmmaker Harold Ramis, opened up about her feelings on the new movie Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Per THR, Stiel had watched an early screening of the movie several months before its premiere, and it proved to be both emotional and cathartic. If you haven’t yet watched Afterlife for yourself, be warned that there are MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW that will be mentioned in this story.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is directed by Jason Reitman, son of Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II helmer Ivan Reitman. Stiel has known the younger Reitman since childhood, and it was remarkable for her to see Jason take the helm of the franchise. She also noted how he was “maybe the only person” who could “really honor the early films and everyone who was in them, but also to make something for now and the future.”

Sadly, while he had personally spent years trying to get another Ghostbusters sequel made, Harold Ramis passed away in 2014. Gears were switched and Paul Feig stepped in to present a new cast of characters in 2016’s Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, and while that reboot is not without its fans, it was met with widespread criticism upon its release. One of the key complaints fans had was that the movie ignored the original continuity rather than revisiting that same story with the same Ghostbusters returning.

In that regard, Ghostbusters: Afterlife goes back in the other direction by setting its story in the same universe as the original movies, even though we’re following mostly all new characters. This allowed for the returns of several major cast members from the original, including Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore, Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz, and Bill Murray as Peter Venkman. Ramis could not physically appear to return as Egon, but Jason Reitman did come up with a touching and creative way to include a special cameo of sorts.

This moment was highly emotional for the longtime Ghostbusters fans watching, as Harold Ramis had always been such an important part of the franchise and he’s just so badly missed. That’s especially the case for those who knew him best, including Violet Ramis Stiel. In her THR interview, she describes how it felt to see her father Harold Ramis on screen once again, something most of us didn’t think was possible after his death in 2014.

“One thing that is timely about the movie is yes, it is a comedy, but it is also about loss and grief. And we are all dealing with that. It was surreal. There are so many parallels to real life, but it is just a movie. And it is not actually him. It is a character. Jason, smartly, focused on capturing the Egon character and not necessarily my dad. I feel like it really worked in that way. Ultimately, it leaves us with that feeling: The people we love are always with us. They don’t go away.”

Violet Ramis Stiel goes on to describe her thoughts on the use of CGI to essentially resurrect her father for one last appearance in a Ghostbusters movie. While she admits it was a bit “weird” at first, Stiel believes her father would have appreciated the scene, especially in regards to how they made him look.

“It was so generous of him to let me feel as though I was a part of the making of the movie, even though I wasn’t. I saw some drafts [of Egon] along the way. It was so satisfying. They could have done him as this jolly Santa-type, but that wouldn’t have been true to the character. He was in great shape, nice and trim. My dad would have loved that.”

Stiel previously wrote about growing up with the Egon actor as her father in the book Ghostbuster’s Daughter: Life with My Dad, Harold Ramis, which was published in 2018. Carrie Coon, who plays Egon’s daughter in Afterlife, spoke about how the book made her feel “touched” as someone playing the daughter of the late actor’s most famous character. You can read more at The Hollywood Reporter. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is currently playing in theaters.