‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Plot Holes

The following post contains SPOILERS SPOILERS for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Beetlejuice — sorry, sorry, I mean Betelgeuse (no one spells the poor guy’s name right) — is back, with his first movie in over 35 years. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice reunites the title character (played by Michael Keaton) with his former nemesis Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), who’s now all grown up with a grumpy teenage daughter of her own. Circumstances force them together on a trip through the afterlife, where they encounter more bizarre ghosts, demons, and impossibly long lines. (The DMV has nothing on the wait for assistance when you’re recently deceased.)

Admittedly, the world (or more specifically the underworld) of Beetlejuice never made all that much sense to begin with. Beetlejuice can be summoned or dispatched anytime someone says his name three times? But what if you say it once and then twice in a row six hours later, does that count? Is there a time limit before the clock resets? These sorts of things were never explained — and they’re not explained in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice either, although the film does provide some previously unrevealed backstory for the title character. (Never did I expect to find out that Beetlejuice had an origin as a human dude who lived hundreds of years ago!)

The movie clearly wants audiences not to think too hard about the rules of life and death in the Beetlejuice universe. But I can’t help it: Thinking too hard is my Kryptonite. And while I did enjoy Beetlejuice Beetlejuice overall, there were definitely some parts that I keep turning over in my mind.

Below, I made a list of eight aspects of the film that don’t quite make sense. If you can explain them, let me know. Just take a ticket from that deli counter dispenser and wait until your number is called. (Right now we’re helping #9,998,383,750,001.)