The Black Phone franchise is a horror thriller directed by Scott Derrickson. In the first movie released on June 24, 2022, “ The Black Phone,” 13-year-old Finney Blake, played by actor Mason Thames, is kidnapped by “The Grabber,” played by actor Ethan Hawke, in a suburban neighborhood outside Denver, Colorado. Finney is trapped in a basement, where he discovers a black phone that is known to be disconnected.
However, this phone is not an ordinary one. It allows Finney to talk to the killers’ past victims who are deceased. There were 5 previous victims, and each would call Finney and talk to him about ways to help him get out of that basement, along with the help of his Sister, Gwen, played by actress Madeleine McGraw, and the visions she would have in her dreams. In the end, Finney ends up escaping by killing “The Grabber.”
The second movie that just came out on October 17, 2025, “Black Phone 2,” is set at a religious camp on Lake Alpine. Finney is much older now, and it shows how Finney must face his biggest fear, as now the Grabber’s spirit has come back, and the Black phone still rings. The spirit of the Grabber is haunted by its first three victims and is restless, so to get rid of the Grabber for good, they must find those three boys’ bodies.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. I think that the setting, being at a campsite in the middle of a snowstorm, added to the tension of the movie, and the quality of the film also showed the year that it was filmed in. They were also trapped at this campsite with no way out, so this creates a sense of suspense within the movie.
The movie is more centered around Gwen, Finney’s younger sister, as her visions become more dangerous, and Finney is struggling to help her with them. This provokes fear and emotion, causing everyone to feel bad for Finney and Gwen, and Nobody wants anything bad to happen to them.
Nobody expected The Grabber to return after Finney killed him, and even though it’s not very realistic, his return as an evil spirit was a fun way to continue some of the plot points from the first movie. In line, and it’s someone that the audience is familiar with.
The one thing about this film is that it was much more gory than the last. There were multiple scenes with lots of blood and wounds, so if that is something that disturbs you, it might not be the best movie for you to watch.
Even though Gwen is the main focus of the movie, which I wasn’t sure if I’d like at first because it was a little confusing, I grew to like it over time because we got to see the story unfold from a new perspective. It was weird going from the first movie, where Finney was the main character and the whole movie plot revolved around him, to feeling like he was more of a background character in the second, because the movie was focused mostly on Gwen.
Overall, I would give this movie 3 and a half stars out of five. The anticipation and tensions in the scenes created great suspense, and the plot was easy to follow.
You can watch this franchise on TV platforms such as Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Netflix.
