This year has been a huge year for horror films. One that stood out was “Black Phone 2,” a sequel to the original 2021 film “The Black Phone.” The first installment of the series was well received by critics and crushed the box office, making over $160 million against their budget of under $20 million. While “Black Phone 2” received a higher budget and a bigger rollout, it also had to deal with lofty expectations. Fortunately, these expectations were not just met but shattered, and it became one of my favorite movies this year.
One of the elements that was improved upon from the original film was the suspense. Ethan Hawke once again nailed playing the sadistic role of The Grabber and did not let up in his quest to hurt Finney Blake (Mason Thames) and Gwen Blake (Madeleine McGraw), who believed The Grabber was dead and no longer in their lives. Many times throughout “Black Phone 2,” I got a jolting feeling of worry as The Grabber came close to achieving his goal. Each time, however, the brother-sister duo managed to escape by the skin of their teeth.
McGraw’s portrayal of Gwen was strong despite some rocky moments in the script, like the overuse of 80s slang that was too on the nose and cringey. Everything else about the character was great, especially because “Black Phone 2” heavily focused on Gwen, as opposed to the first film, where she was not the main centerpiece. She shined in her expanded role and took some brutal, blood-ridden bumps at the hands of The Grabber. Gwen’s helplessness and fear of what was to come were excellent, and she built an uncanny atmosphere that filled the film and the movie theater.
What worked nicely in this movie was the backstory and callbacks to its prequel. It felt like the producers and director took an extensive amount of time to ensure every detail corresponded perfectly, making this movie check all the boxes for a satisfying sequel. For example, it played into the death of Finney and Gwen’s mother. In one of Gwen’s dreams, she received a call from her mom from 1957 at Alpine Lake Camp. This dream foreshadowed that The Grabber was still alive. Ultimately, the two of them and Ernesto, Gwen’s love interest, traveled to the camp as potential counselors to discover more about the camp’s history. There, they learned that The Grabber had three more victims who used to go to the camp, and that their bodies were still under ice, giving The Grabber power to reemerge. Gwen also uncovered the truth about her mom’s death, seeing in a dream that it was not a suicide as presumed, but rather a murder at the hands of The Grabber.
“Black Phone 2” throws a lot at its viewers, yet it all makes sense. The film jumps from a static retro feel to a modern-day lens in order to portray the time periods the movie is set in. The cast’s performances, the story’s progression, the gore and violence and the cinematic approach to horror makes “Black Phone 2” a must-watch film. It is different, feels fresh and could be setting up another franchise in horror since interest in a third film has been expressed. Whether that is needed or not is a topic for another day, but for now, “Black Phone 2” did its job effectively.
