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Ghost Graduation

Ghost Graduation 2012

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Ghost Graduation Plot Summary

Read the complete plot summary and ending explained for Ghost Graduation (2012). From turning points to emotional moments, uncover what really happened and why it matters.


Modesto is a teacher who sees dead people, a gift that has cost him dearly—money spent on psychiatrists and being fired from every school he has worked in. His luck changes when he is hired in Monforte to teach five students who have turned a prestigious school into a house of horrors. Modesto must get them to pass their pending subject and leave the school once and for all, but it will be no easy task: all five students died twenty years earlier.

Years in the past, Modesto was at his high school dance when he started dancing with another student. When the other students began laughing at him, it was revealed that he was dancing with a ghost that only he could see.

Now in the present, Modesto is suffering due to his inability to distinguish ghosts from regular people, and he’s fired from his seventh teaching job. He’s also been continuously seeing a therapist who inappropriately labels his problems as repressed homosexual feelings. Elsewhere at the Monforte school, teachers are harassed by five deceased students, and their actions threaten to shut down the school. Principal Tina hires Modesto because of her years of experience.

On his way to his new classroom, Modesto is misdirected and finds an abandoned room with five ghost students. While they initially try to scare him away they finally realize that the living man can see and communicate with them. Modesto leaves the school thinking he’s going crazy, but Principal Tina convinces him that she believes him and urges him to rid the school of the ghosts.

Modesto consults a ghost that he often sees at his therapist’s office who explains how all ghosts have unfinished business. He concludes that all five students need to graduate, and with some reluctance, all of the students study and pass their exams. However, after they pass, they do not ascend as he hoped; they turn their back on him and continue terrorizing the school. Modesto is dismissed as his students wreak havoc and Tina the principal loses faith in him.

Dani, the most rebellious of the students, wants to keep pulling pranks and causing trouble, and he even has the ability to possess people. It is revealed that Dani started the fire in 1987 to force all five students out of detention before they died. He fears his actions will condemn him to a bad place after he moves on from the ghostly realm, but ultimately his friends forgive him.

Mariví’s boyfriend Chema wrote a letter but it was accidentally placed in Ángela’s locker. Ángela kept the letter to get back at Mariví, but was eventually compelled to give it back. Mariví’s boyfriend wrote to her that he didn’t want to get married, that he wasn’t sure the child was his, and that Mariví should forget him.

Founder’s Day, a celebration of Principal Tina’s father who was the former principal arrives. The chair lady has yet to determine if she will shut down the school or not attend. While there, Ángela possesses a student and begins to sing beautifully. She ascends, since in life she was never allowed to join the choir because her parents didn’t want her to divide her time with studying.

Jorge starts chatting with a living student named Elsa with Ouiji boards and computers. She decides she wants to join him in the afterlife so she tries to drown herself in the pool the night of Founder’s Day. She briefly sees Jorge before Modesto successfully performs CPR and revives her.

Pinfloy, an avid Pink Floyd fan who died drunk and is always experiencing side effects such as nausea and trouble concentrating, only wanted to travel to Pacha. Modesto and the other students bring him to the school’s party and Pinfloy interprets it as Pacha and is able to enjoy his last wish. He eventually has a hangover while Mariví starts to feel labor pains which indicates a new passage of time for them. They all hold hands and ascend into the next part of the afterlife.

Ghost Graduation Timeline

Follow the complete movie timeline of Ghost Graduation (2012) with every major event in chronological order. Great for understanding complex plots and story progression.


Modesto's gift and career cost

Modesto is a teacher who can see dead people. The ability costs him money for therapists and leads to him being fired from every school he works at. This fragile pattern sets the stage for his new assignment at Monforte.

Hired at Monforte to teach five haunted students

Modesto is brought to Monforte to teach five students who have turned the school into a house of horrors. His mission is to get them to pass their pending subject and finally leave the school. The five students themselves died twenty years earlier, adding a supernatural weight to the task.

Monforte School

Discovery of the five ghost students

On the way to his new classroom, Modesto is misdirected and discovers an abandoned room populated by the five ghost students. At first they try to scare him, but they soon realize the living man can see and communicate with them. This moment marks the first genuine contact between realms.

Monforte School

Principal Tina believes in Modesto's gift

Modesto leaves the room thinking he is going crazy, but Principal Tina believes him and urges him to help the haunted school. She hires him and supports the idea that the ghosts must be addressed. Her confidence anchors his efforts to resolve the haunting.

Monforte School

Unfinished business and the plan to graduate

Modesto consults the ghost he often sees at his therapist’s office, who explains that all ghosts have unfinished business. He concludes that the five students must graduate to move on from their afterlife. With that in mind, Modesto guides them to study and take their exams.

Therapist's office and Monforte School

The five students study and pass their exams

Under Modesto's guidance, the five students study and pass their pending exams. The moment seems to fulfill their completion, yet the afterlife still holds deeper tests. The school watches as the living and the dead approach a fragile equilibrium.

Monforte School

Graduation does not lead to the expected ascent

Despite passing their exams, the five ghosts do not ascend as Modesto hoped. They turn their backs on him and continue to terrorize the school. Tina loses faith in Modesto as the haunting intensifies and threatens the institution.

Monforte School

Dani's rebellion and the 1987 fire

Dani, the most rebellious of the students, loves pranks and can even possess people. He started the fire in 1987 to force all five out of detention before they died. He fears condemnation after death, but his friends forgive him in time and the group moves forward.

Monforte School

Mariví, Chema, and the mislaid letter

Mariví's boyfriend Chema writes a letter that is accidentally placed in Ángela's locker. Ángela keeps it to get back at Mariví, but eventually returns it. The letter reveals doubts about marriage and whether the child is his, adding tension to the living relationships.

Monforte School

Founder's Day and Angela's ascent through song

Founder's Day, a celebration that honors Tina's father, arrives at the school. Ángela possesses a student and begins to sing beautifully, then ascends since she was never allowed to join the choir in life due to her parents' restrictions. The moment marks a dramatic supernatural rise.

Monforte School

Jorge and Elsa: Ouija boards and near drowning

Jorge interacts with a living student named Elsa using Ouija boards and computers. Elsa decides she wants to join him in the afterlife and attempts to drown herself in the pool. Modesto intervenes, performing CPR to revive her, underscoring the thin line between life and death.

Monforte School

Pinfloy's last night and the passage of time

Pinfloy, an avid Pink Floyd fan who died drunk, experiences nausea and disorientation as he tries to reach his last desire to go to Pacha. Modesto and the others bring him to the school party, where Pinfloy perceives the experience as his final wish fulfilled. As the night passes, Mariví begins to feel labor pains, signaling a new passage of time for the group.

Monforte School

Final ascent and release to the next realm

With the final turning point reached, the five students join hands and ascend into the next part of the afterlife. Their unity seals the unresolved business, offering a peaceful resolution for the living stakeholders of Monforte.

Monforte School

Ghost Graduation Characters

Explore all characters from Ghost Graduation (2012). Get detailed profiles with their roles, arcs, and key relationships explained.


Modesto (Raúl Arévalo)

A teacher who sees dead people, whose career and sanity are tested by decades of ghostly interference. He must navigate being fired from multiple schools while balancing therapy and his own fragile sense of reality as he tries to help the five student ghosts graduate.

👨‍🏫 Teacher 👻 Ghosts 🧠 Mental Health

Elsa (Aura Garrido)

A living student who communicates with Jorge using Ouija boards and becomes entangled with the afterlife. She shows a desire to join Jorge in the afterlife and the Founder's Day events culminate in a dangerous pool incident.

💬 Communication 🌊 Danger 👧 Living Student

Tina (Alexandra Jiménez)

Principal who hires Modesto after witnessing his abilities and must face the consequences of the haunting at the school as leadership is tested.

🏫 School 👩‍⚖️ Leadership 🕊️ Authority

Dani (Àlex Maruny)

The rebellious student who can possess people and who started the 1987 fire to remove detention, facing guilt about his actions and their impact in the afterlife.

🎭 Rebellion 👻 Possession 🔥 Fire

Mariví (Andrea Duro)

One of the five student ghosts whose relationships and letters (like Mariví’s) influence the haunting; her presence marks the passage of time within the afterlife.

💞 Relationships ⏳ Time 👻 Ghosts

Ángela (Anna Castillo)

A student who ascends after being allowed to join the choir, symbolizing potential realized beyond the constraints of life.

🎶 Choir 🕊️ Ascension 🎭 Drama

Jorge (Jaime Olías)

A living student who engages with Elsa through Ouija boards and computers, exploring friendship and the lure of the afterlife.

🗨️ Communication 🤝 Friendship 🧭 Afterlife

Pinfloy (Javier Bódalo)

A deceased student and Pink Floyd fan who experiences a final wish journey and a lingering hangover before ascending with the others.

🎶 Music 👻 Ghosts 🪐 Afterlife

Dead Psychiatrist (Luis Varela)

The ghost of Modesto’s therapist who anchors the narrative by linking Modesto’s perceptions of ghosts to past therapy sessions.

🧠 Therapy 👻 Ghosts 🩺 Mental Health

Alive Psychiatrist (Joaquín Reyes)

A living psychiatrist who provides clinical contrast to the ghostly experiences and the therapeutic backdrop of Modesto’s life.

🧠 Psychiatry 💬 Dialogue 🧭 Perspective

Education Counselor (Elena Irureta)

A school counselor who interacts with Modesto as the haunting tests staff and student well-being.

🎓 Counseling 🧭 Guidance 🧠 Mental Health

Director instituto (José María Sacristán)

The school director who navigates administration and crisis management as the haunting unfolds.

🏫 Administration 🗂️ Policy 🕯️ Leadership

Ghost Graduation Settings

Learn where and when Ghost Graduation (2012) takes place. Explore the film’s settings, era, and how they shape the narrative.


Time period

Late 1980s and present day

The story shifts between a high school dance in 1987, where a ghost is revealed, and the present day when Modesto struggles to distinguish ghosts from the living. In the past, a fire set to force detention involved the five students, shaping their unfinished business. In the present, Modesto’s ongoing encounters with the spectral students drive the action as the school tries to survive the haunting.

Location

Monforte

Monforte is home to a prestigious school that has become a house of horrors due to five deceased students haunting its halls. The living teachers and Principal Tina must confront the ghosts and keep the school from shutting down. Founder's Day and the school’s corridors, classrooms, and rituals become the battleground where the living and the afterlife collide.

🏫 School 👻 Supernatural

Ghost Graduation Themes

Discover the main themes in Ghost Graduation (2012). Analyze the deeper meanings, emotional layers, and social commentary behind the film.


👻

Ghosts and unfinished business

Five deceased students haunt the school until their pending issues are resolved. Modesto works to help them finish their exams so they can pass on, but graduation does not immediately resolve their presence. The haunting persists, revealing the complexity of what it means to move on.

🎓

Redemption and graduation

The students’ need to complete their education frames a path to closure. Even after they pass their exams, their relationship with the living remains tense, showing that graduation is a milestone rather than an endpoint. The living staff seek a final resolution that allows the school to move forward.

🧠

Mental health and perception

Modesto’s gift to see the dead and his therapy history shape how others interpret his experiences. The story highlights how mislabeling or misunderstanding mental health issues can color a person’s reality. The ghosts force a confrontation between superstition and psychology within the school.

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Ghost Graduation Spoiler-Free Summary

Discover the spoiler-free summary of Ghost Graduation (2012). Get a concise overview without any spoilers.


In the sleepy town of Monforte, a once‑respectable high school has become an oddball crossroads where the ordinary and the otherworldly collide. The corridors echo with the murmurs of students who never quite left, and the atmosphere hums with a mixture of teenage angst and lingering after‑life. The film’s tone balances quirky comedy with a gentle melancholy, inviting viewers to wonder what it truly means to finish a chapter when the pages are still turning.

Modesto arrives on the scene as a weary educator whose unique gift—seeing and hearing the dead—has cost him a string of firings and a lifetime of bewildered therapy sessions. Though his sensitivity has left him marginalized, it also makes him the only person capable of recognizing the spectral presence haunting the school’s halls. The principal, Tina, sees this as a chance to restore order, hiring him despite the whispered rumors that follow the new teacher wherever he goes.

Inside the classroom he discovers five translucent pupils, each embodying a fragment of the past and a lingering desire for closure. Their playful, sometimes mischievous interactions reveal that they are not merely haunting the school but are caught in a liminal state, yearning for a final rite that feels both mundane and monumental. The dynamic between the living teacher and his ethereal charges is poised between mentorship and mystery, hinting at the possibility that education might transcend the boundaries of life itself.

As the story unfolds, the audience is drawn into a world where everyday school rituals—exams, friendships, and the longing for recognition—take on an uncanny resonance. The film blends the familiar anxieties of adolescence with the uncanny charm of a ghostly after‑school special, promising a heartfelt exploration of unfinished business, the power of community, and the strange, hopeful notion that even the most lingering spirits can find a way to graduate.

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