Black Phone 2, 2025.
Directed by Scott Derrickson.
Starring Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Miguel Mora, Demián Bichir, Ethan Hawke, Arianna Rivas, Anna Lore, Jeremy Davies, Maev Beaty, Graham Abbey, Simon Webster, Chase B. Robertson, and Shepherd Munroe.
SYNOPSIS:
As Finn, now 17, struggles with life after his captivity, his sister begins receiving calls in her dreams from the black phone and seeing disturbing visions of three boys being stalked at a winter camp known as Alpine Lake.
Not that a sequel was necessary, but if Black Phone 2 had to exist, at the very least, director Scott Derrickson (once again writing the screenplay alongside C. Robert Cargill, and based on characters created by Joe Hill) took the logical approach and centered the story on psychic Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), the younger sister of Finney (Mason Thames). This allows the sequel to become a completely different type of horror film, rather than merely repeating the first film.
Doing that would be difficult, anyway, considering the masked serial killer dubbed The Grabber (another sinister turn from Ethan Hawke here) died at the hands of Finney, following the abduction and murder of numerous children over several years. The Grabber wants his revenge on Finney from the afterlife, but this time, his demonic specter is invading the dreams of Gwen to do so, making for a cleverly haunted riff on A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Taking place four years later in 1982, Finney and Gwen are dealing with the aftermath, each facing their own barriers to moving past such trauma. The former is angry all the time and has reverted to beating up other high schoolers and smoking drugs. Meanwhile, Gwen is insecure over her psychic abilities inherited from her deceased mom (she tragically committed suicide) and worries that she will never have a normal life. Fortunately for her, a boy named Ernesto (Miguel Mora) is interested and accepting of her, and even prepared to take her to see Duran Duran in concert.
However, there are still unexplainable phenomena occurring, such as Gwen dreaming that she is inside a phone booth on a sheet of ice, with her mother calling to deliver a cryptic message. Through some quick research, she and Finney deduce that the location is a camp where their mother was once a counselor. That was also when it closed down following some disturbing events that the hardcore Christian camp runners would rather not acknowledge anymore. Rightfully, the screenplay has an axe to grind against such cowardice, offering biting commentary on religious practices.
Nevertheless, The Grabber’s ghost is not only here, but seemingly stronger in this area, with damage done to Gwen in her dreams carrying over into the real world. This means that she. Finney and Ernesto, teaming up with camp supervisor Armando (Demián Bichir) and his niece Mustang (Arianna Rivas), must watch over Gwen when she sleeps and try their damnedest to wake her up if the dream battling against The Grabber is endangering her life. There’s also a nifty stylistic visual touch: whenever she is dreaming, the imagery becomes immensely grainy.
This is an admittedly preposterous concept, although it’s not that far off from the supernatural workings of the original. Instead, it’s elevating that aspect while, as mentioned, funneling the horror through a different character and perspective. It is a bit silly how far out of the way Black Phone 2 goes to connect various plot points, stripping away some of the randomness behind The Grabber’s abduction behavior, sometimes with scenes that drag on with dialogue.
However, it’s also a welcome pleasure that this horror sequel still cares about its characters as much as it does about finding alternate ways to elicit fear. Between that and all the tiny, demented choices Ethan Hawke is making as an actor, Black Phone 2 is another vicious treat, complete with a chilly and gory showdown on ice to remember.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
