By Robert Scucci
| Published
Have you ever been to one of those escape rooms where you pay to get trapped in a small space and solve riddles so you can eventually exit through the gift shop? That’s kind of how The Black Phone plays out, except in this case you’re locked in a dank basement against your will by a psychotic serial killer known as “The Grabber,” and have to communicate with his past victims’ disembodied spirits VIA rotary telephone as they leave you cryptic clues that allow you to plot your daring departure from imminent death. The Black Phone has been on my radar for a while now, and while I admit I slept on this unexpected hit, I knew I had to watch it sooner or later, especially now that its upcoming (and well deserved) sequel will be coming out later this year.
A Supernatural Horror Like No Other
The Black Phone doesn’t have a complex plot, but it’s executed to perfection. After a series of child abductions and murders put a North Denver, Colorado community on edge, we learn about The Grabber (Ethan Hawke); the ever-elusive person of interest who operates out of a black van filled with black balloons as he searches for his prey. Driving around town and scooping up children undetected, The Grabber picks up his next victim, Finney Blake (Mason Thames), a socially awkward 13-year-old.
Finney’s younger sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) has psychic visions that offer a glimpse at The Grabber’s whereabouts, as well as the fate of his past victims, but their abusive alcoholic father, Terrence (Jeremy Davies), discourages her from talking about or acting on her abilities because her mother had the same gift of clairvoyance, which eventually drove her to suicide.
Finney, locked in The Grabber’s soundproof basement dungeon, starts receiving calls from the black (and disconnected) rotary phone affixed to the wall, and they’re all coming from kids he remembers from school before they went missing. The disembodied spirits of Finney’s dead friends give him explicit instructions on how to act so he can outsmart The Grabber, as they tried to make their own daring escapes using the limited resources they had, but ultimately met their demise after failing to breach the basement.
Finney, who has the advantage of hearing from multiple victims’ perspectives, has the ability to put together an escape plan using all of the information he’s hearing through the black phone.
Meanwhile, detectives Wright (E. Roger Mitchell) and Miller (Troy Rudeseal) have an encounter with Max (James Ransone), a man who has been obsessively trying to figure out The Grabber’s identity and location because the authorities clearly need some help trying to locate all of the kids who have disappeared and are presumed dead.
Great Performances All Around
If you think that The Black Phone’s plot sounds almost too simple to be effective, that’s where you’re gravely mistaken. Not only do you want to root for Finney the entire time as he’s guided by voices from beyond the grave, his tenacity and willingness to trust forces beyond his comprehension while complying to the rules of The Grabber’s sadistic games makes for an admirable performance from Mason Thames, the film’s lead. Finney shifts from frightened to totally in control of the situation as he learns more about the weak spots in The Grabber’s master plan.
Ethan Hawke is absolutely terrifying as The Grabber, whose personality is so unsettling because of how flamboyantly he carries out his sadistic crimes. Shifting between voices of childlike curiosity and guttural growls, Hawke’s performance will keep you up at night because he kind of comes off as a nice guy who can’t control his impulses until you realize it’s all part of his twisted game.
Watching The Black Phone
The Black Phone, which is based on the C. Robert Cargill short story of the same name, is masterfully suspenseful, and absolutely worth an on-demand purchase. My biggest regret is not throwing down the $4 while waiting for the title to make its rounds on streaming. The Black Phone 2, the upcoming sequel, is currently slated for an October 2025 release, and you better believe that I’m going to check it out on opening day.
After watching The Black Phone on-demand through Apple TV+, Google Play Movies, or Fandango at Home, you’ll want to check out V/H/S/85 for the short film, “Dreamkill,” which takes place in the same universe as The Black Phone, but seven years after the events depicted in the film.
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