About the film (courtesy of Universal Pictures):
Finney Shaw, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney.
I’ll sum up The Black Phone like this: Simple on the surface, engaging as the plot unfolds, and surprisingly satisfying when all is said and done. Clocking in at a perfectly balanced 102 minutes, director/writer Scott Derrickson masterfully navigates the perils of modern-day horror film failures by giving the audience exactly what they need, even if they don’t realize it themselves at first.
The Black Phone, based on a short story of the same name by Joe Hill aka Joseph Hillstrom King (Stephen King’s son), captures the essence of solid thrilling horror films from the 1970s and 80s that really kicked the beloved genre into a new gear. This film is not afraid to take risks by treating these younger characters as they would ones 10+ years older.
Just as director Andy Muschietti with the recent remake of Stephen King’s It, you may have to be 17 or older to attend this movie without an adult or guardian, but you don’t have to have reached that age to curse like a sailor or meet an untimely demise. Horror films are better without the playing-it-safe training wheels attached.
Mason Thames plays Finney and Madeleine McGraw plays his younger sister, Gwen. Both are a few years away from legal driving, but that doesn’t stop them from taking audiences on a wild ride throughout. Their performances are great and they more than hold their own in The Black Phone. Ethan Hawke strikes fear and unrest as “The Grabber”. The veteran actor has had more than his fair share of roles, especially in recent years, in films that are on the horror side of things. I believe Hawke has found a new calling that suits him very well.
The good acting doesn’t end with the three previously mentioned. It sometimes takes a village to bring everything together in the right way. The Black Phone has more than a handful of effective talent pulling his or her own weight. Jeremy Davies, James Ransone, E. Roger Mitchell and Miguel Cazarez Mora are a few of the actors that help in making this feel like a complete experience.
The Black Phone definitely has an unsettling and disturbing feel to it, which is what makes it so good to watch. It feels like an unfortunate story ripped out of the headlines from decades ago. If you’re looking for an entertaining film to watch in theaters, this is definitely the way to go. Your nerves can thank you (or more accurately, yell at you) later.
The Black Phone is definitely one the more enjoyable theatrical films of 2022, not just within its genre, and deserves to be recognized. Don’t miss this one in theaters, starting this evening.
