Movie: Black Phone 2 (2025)
Production Companies: Blumhouse Productions, Crooked Highway
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Producer(s): Jason Blum, Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill
Directed by: Scott Derrickson
Written by: Scott Derrickson (screenplay), C. Robert Cargill (screenplay), Joe Hill (characters created by)
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw
Review by: Stefano Todaro

Warning: Spoilers for The Black Phone (2021) ahead.

Scott Derrickson’s The Black Phone was a surprise success in 2021. It had a lot to live up to, given its incredibly well-executed trailer and the promise of an unhinged Ethan Hawke. After winning over critics and the box office, a sequel seemed all but guaranteed. The Black Phone was tied up with a neat bow, leaving the masses wondering how a sequel would work in this world. The Black Phone 2 trailer was released, and it quickly became clear how a sequel would work: The Grabber will be wreaking havoc from his grave.

Black Phone 2 takes place a few years after Finney, played by Mason Thames, was kidnapped by The Grabber. With the help of The Grabber’s dead victims, Finney was able to kill the serial killer and escape. Finney is now 17 and is struggling mentally and emotionally after the trauma he was subjected to. His sister, Gwen (played by Madeleine McGraw), is having disturbing visions in her dreams. Gwen can hear the black phone ringing in these visions, and she is also being haunted by three boys who are in distress at Alpine Lake. After making the connection that their mom was a camp counselor at Alpine Lake, Gwen and Finney (along with Gwen’s love interest Ernesto) decide to enroll in a camp counselor training program at Alpine Lake to try to make sense of Gwen’s horrifying dreams and visions.

Two things save Black Phone 2 from being another totally failed horror sequel: creative storytelling and Ethan Hawke’s bonkers performance as The Grabber. How can you possibly bring back The Grabber after he was killed off in The Black Phone? Maybe he didn’t really die? Or perhaps he can be brought back to life through some ritual? Rather than some silly screenplay gymnastics, the filmmakers bring back Hawke’s menacing character through dream sequences and visions. The dream sequences and visions in Black Phone 2 were either filmed using different cameras or edited to appear grainy and fuzzy. The grainy look not only helped differentiate real life and dreams, but the chilly feeling those sequences gave off added to the terror. Not only is the A Nightmare on Elm Street homage a fun way to bring Hawke back into the fold, but the resurfacing of The Grabber character in general reveals important character information and background. I was pleasantly surprised that this sequel had purpose and found a way to build out this modern horror icon. Hawke was as outstanding as he was in The Black Phone, but this sequel gives him more room to work, making him that much more horrifying and fun.

Even though the storytelling gave Black Phone 2 purpose, the remainder of the screenplay and the cast at large prevent this film from living up to its predecessor. Whereas the entirety of The Black Phone kept the suspense ramped up, the sequel falls prey to long segments of seemingly useless dialogue. I admire dialogue-heavy horror films, but when the content of the conversations isn’t heady enough to spark intrigue, a film and viewer can begin to sink under the weight of boredom. I found myself sinking for the majority of Black Phone 2. Rather than a consistent stream of Hawke sequences, we’re given them in bursts with occasionally dry character background and exposition-driven conversations in between. The film suffers greatly from constantly halting momentum, and for as talky as the film is, it didn’t have much to say. It did oddly allude to religion and Christianity as a potential saving grace without having touched on that in the original. Falling back on religion is a lazy trope that gets exhausting in horror films.

As mentioned before, Hawke gives another remarkable performance, but the remaining cast flounders in comparison. The shockingly elementary dialogue is too clunky and unnatural to evoke any sort of emotion from the cast, thus leaving the viewer unintentionally cold. The Universal and Blumhouse grinder of it all seems to be at play; Black Phone 2 is a highly marketed property meant for a wide audience. For as many times as I rolled my eyes, I was met with just as many laughs or positive reactions from the general audience in our packed auditorium. Even though the dialogue feels too simple and robotic, it might work for some. I’d love to say that the cast does their best with the dialogue and script, but I’d be lying if I did. I didn’t like any performance outside of Ethan Hawke’s, and I especially struggled with Madeleine McGraw’s lead role as Gwen. Derrickson and company tried hard to make Gwen badass, sarcastic, and sure of herself, but these traits, coupled with stilted dialogue, came off as very cringey. To put it simply, she didn’t have the chops to lead this film. Mason Thames didn’t fare well either, which is surprising after his convincing turn in The Black Phone.

Did Black Phone 2 live up to my expectations? No. Was it a necessary sequel? Surprisingly, yes. I appreciated and admired The Grabber’s character building and some of this film’s horror sequences. It did not hold back on the blood and gore, and those viewers looking for that will get that here. I just wish the good elements were part of a much better film.

6.8/10

By: Stefano Todaro