The psychological horror film “The Black Phone,” starring Ethan Hawke and Mason Thames, shocked producers when it became a box office success after its release in 2021.
Despite having a budget of $18 million, the film earned over $161 million worldwide and was the third biggest horror film released since 2020.
Certainly a sequel would be high-grossing no matter what, but we were all a bit surprised that they thought to make one anyway. “The Black Phone” was a great movie, one of my favorites, but felt too much like a stand alone to warrant a sequel.
As predicted, “Black Phone 2” brought in $84.5 million in ticket sales since it opened to theaters on Oct.17. I was surprised to see the direction they took the movie, the ways it worked and the ways it fell short.
SPOILERS AHEAD
“Black Phone 2” was a really enjoyable movie, however, Finney Blake should have been the main character over Gwen. I love Gwen, but by the marketing and trailer, I would have expected to see more of Finney and more of the Grabber in the movie.
“Black Phone 2” was Gwen’s movie. It was a way to explore her dreams, her connection to her mother’s dreams and her need for answers. For those purposes, it definitely achieved those goals. Still, I would have liked to see Finney take a more active role in the sequel of his movie.
The same goes for the Grabber. “Black Phone 2” started to dive into the Grabber’s backstory by bringing the kids to Alpine Lake Camp where he first started killing. I wish they had focused on that aspect of the story more and gone into the Grabber’s actual backstory when they dove into the past.
We don’t even find out his name, only the nickname he was called at the camp: Wild Bill Hickok. It would have been more engaging to find out more about the Grabber’s story from this movie.
The dynamic between Finney and the Grabber, during the few times they got to interact, hints at how suspenseful, tension-filled and dramatic the movie could have been if it was a point of focus for the film.
I always felt like the success of the first film was based on the simplicity of it. No fancy backgrounds or effects. Only a few filming locations and a very basic plot that was executed perfectly. “Black Phone 2” went in the opposite direction.
“The Black Phone” brought up the supernatural by leaning on the natural. Finney spoke to the past victims through a physical phone on the wall and Gwen had dreams that showed her messages from the past and the present. It was a supernatural movie but didn’t dive into the specifics of how that connection worked.
The sequel invited the supernatural into the natural world. Gwen’s dreams carried her mind away from her body, and she was able to interact with the dream world in a way she never could in the first movie.
The ghost of the Grabber was able to hurt people in real life, and they were able to interact with him even though they could not see him. Only Gwen could see him… in her dreams.
The dream sequences were filmed with actual Super 8mm and 15mm film cameras (throwback) to achieve a grainy, distorted and old-timey quality. They actually had to develop the film and hope that they got the shot or the actors would have to film it all over again.
This was a part of the movie that was really creative and well-executed. It added a creepy, off-putting and dream-like quality to the film that it relied on to execute the plot.
That being said, the call-backs to “The Black Phone” were truly stellar. Finney getting into a fight at school and quoting Robin Arellano, ominous phone calls following Finney and, of course, Gwen telling her father that her dreams are not just dreams.
Mason Thames, as Finney Blake, portrays grief in a really authentic and realistic way throughout the movie, choosing to avoid the problem and be angry over dealing with the past and eventually breaking down. I would have liked to see more of his experience coping throughout the movie but was impressed with how well it was portrayed when we did see it.
Both Finney and Gwen struggle to cope with their grief throughout the film and act as foils to each other.
Finney shuts down, won’t talk about anything that has happened and often uses anger as a release. Gwen tries to take action in every way she can to track down the source of her dreams and their meaning, even if it means dragging them to a religious camp in the middle of a snow storm.
“Black Phone 2” took on a slasher movie vibe with the amount of blood, gore and concept of a killer taunting his victims. “Hello Finney. Did you think our story was over?”
The film was almost a parody of “Scream,” except no one died, which was pretty surprising for a horror movie.
Ethan Hawke’s performance as the Grabber was as chilling in this movie as the first time around. Hawke’s ability to play the sadistic kidnapper and the enraged demon out for revenge was unmatched.
Overall, “Black Phone 2” was a great movie.
The expectations were high for this film after the unexpected success of the original, and while I thought there were some ways the movie fell short of my expectations, it was a a well-thought-out and intricately executed film.
“Black Phone 2” is set to overtake their $100 million estimate for ticket sales within the month.