*Contains spoilers from “The Black Phone” and “The Black Phone 2”*
Back in 2021, my family and I sat down on the couch to watch a newly released movie titled “The Black Phone” directed by Scott Derrickson. We had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into. “The Black Phone,” set in the ‘70s, follows 13-year-old Finney (Mason Thames) who is being held in the basement of a masked murderer known as The Grabber (Ethan Hawke). With a black rotary phone attached to the wall, Finney finds that he can communicate with The Grabber’s past victims by working together to free him from the Grabber’s psychological and sadistic game. Absolutely thrilling and memorable, “The Black Phone” made its mark as one of my favorite thriller films.
When I first heard that “The Black Phone 2” was going to be released on Oct. 17, 2025, I wondered, “was there really anything left to expand on?” The first movie ended with the death of The Grabber, so could there be anything more to say? Despite walking into the theatre with little hope, the movie surpassed my expectations.
The film begins a couple years after Finney’s traumatizing events with The Grabber, comforting himself by smoking and getting into fights at school. Meanwhile, his younger sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) is still experiencing supernatural dreams— as she did in the first movie— but this time they’re graphic visions of The Grabber’s passed victims. In order to figure out why this is happening, Gwen discovers that the kids in her dreams are located at Alpine Lake— a youth camp where their mom attended as a counselor many years ago. Finney, Gwen, and Ernesto, a past victim’s younger brother, venture off to Alpine Lake to get to the bottom of Gwen’s supernatural dreams. As soon as they get there, strange phone calls, dreams, and events begin to happen— leaving the group determined to figure out a way to stop the continuing madness of The Grabber’s game.
Right away, I immediately fell in love with the camera work during the scenes in which Gwen was having her supernatural dreams. During these dreams, the camera shook, giving the appearance that it was filmed on a vintage camera. The grainy quality to these scenes gives a truly eerie aesthetic to the film, making these scenes seem like a horror film from the ‘80s rather than the 2020s. The pure video quality was a significant factor of what made the movie unique and appealing to me.
While the first movie was absolutely terrifying, the sequel includes much more gore than expected. It’s obviously R-rated for a reason, but I did not expect the film to spit out as many graphic scenes as possible. I would definitely not recommend the movie if you get queasy around blood and gore. It’s not for everyone, but I do give props to the creators for the thrilling watch. One specific aspect I did enjoy about the gruesome scenes was the music during these graphic moments, which added a deeper level of intensity and horror for the audience.
I was really impressed with the performances by the actors in the first movie, but unfortunately in the sequel their acting felt forced and fake. While this didn’t get in the way of my enjoyment of the plot, I wish the actors could’ve replicated the high quality of their previous performance.
The character development was phenomenal, though. Since Finney and Gwen are now older, the writers did a wonderful job developing the characters’ stories from the first film. Finney’s character shifted from a young 13 year old into the strong, yet traumatized teenager he is in the sequel. He acquired his father’s angry personality and heavily smoked instead of facing his underlying problems. On the other hand, his sister’s supernatural dreams had worsened since the first film, leaving Gwen vulnerable and in fear that she’d go crazy the more graphic the dreams got. This made Gwen one of the main characters in the movie, working alongside Finney, to end The Grabber’s madness once and for all. Ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised with the intricate development and changes that the characters experienced throughout this film, considering how I originally felt that there was nothing left to expand on.
Towards the end of the film I started to question the storyline. Why do the characters need to find the bodies of The Grabber’s first victims in order to limit his powers? It felt like the creators were grasping at straws in order to wrap up the movie. Other than that, I couldn’t poke holes in any of the other plot points.
Overall, the movie was definitely a thrilling watch. I’d definitely recommend this to anyone who was a fan of the first movie or to anyone who’s eager to follow Gwen and Finney’s horrifying, yet thrilling adventures. This film left me with a sense of hope for other sequels to horror movies—when you think there really isn’t anything left to expand on, there always is. Despite walking out of the theatre with a profound fear of rotary phones, I was satisfied with the outcome and execution of the movie.