Review

The thing to like about The Black Phone 2 is how it expands the canvas rather than simply tracing over the elements and plot points of its 2021 predecessor. The earlier film worked primarily because its suspense, dread, and level of viewer engagement were strong enough to overcome plot inconsistencies and narrative missteps. Similar arguments can be made in favor of the sequel which, despite leaning more heavily into the supernatural realm, puts its characters in dire situations where survival often seems among the least likely outcomes.

The Black Phone 2 doesn't back away from the ending of the first movie. The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) isn't resurrected like Michael Myers was for each new Halloween installment. He remains dead - but, as he cuttingly remarks to his nemesis Finney (Mason Thames), "Dead is just a word." To that extent, The Grabber never has a corporeal form, but he's plenty dangerous reaching out from the dream world, where he feeds on fear and exists through the power of his hatred. The similarities to A Nightmare on Elm Street are almost certainly not coincidental.

Although Finney remains a major character - still wrestling with the same kind of PTSD that afflicted Laurie Strode in H20 and the David Gordon Green Halloween trilogy - the central figure here is Finney's younger sister, Gwen (again played by Madeleine McGraw). The movie delves into their past and explores Gwen's dream capabilities. Most of the action unfolds at a snowbound camp being buried under a blizzard. The cast is small: Finney; Gwen; Gwen's would-be boyfriend Ernesto (Miguel Mora, playing the younger brother of Robin, one of The Grabber's victims in the original); the camp director, Armando (Demian Bichir), and his daughter, Mustang (Arianna Rivas); plus a couple of holy rollers who don't take kindly when Gwen drops the f-bomb. And, out there somewhere beyond a lonely phone booth and across a frozen lake, is The Grabber - making contact with Finney by phone and Gwen through her dreams.

At times, The Black Phone 2 strays a bit too far into unnecessary exposition - in horror, ambiguity is often more effective - and the ending feels overwrought and overly sentimental. Still, the suspense elements are well handled by returning director Scott Derrickson, who approaches the project as an extension rather than a regurgitation. Having transformed The Grabber from a deeply disturbed human serial killer into a demon, Ethan Hawke embraces the shift, turning the character into an even more terrifying version of himself. The blizzard provides a claustrophobic sense of isolation that heightens the tension, and the surprisingly low body count reminds us that a horror film doesn't need a pile of corpses to be effective.

For the dream sequences, of which there are many - possibly as much as a quarter of the film transpires within Gwen's nocturnal visions - Derrickson uses a simple visual shorthand. Unlike in other movies where dreams blend seamlessly into reality, he differentiates them by increasing the grain, giving the sequences a rougher, more "dirty" texture. There's never any question when we're looking through Gwen's eyes or someone else's, even when perspectives switch rapidly. It's an efficient way to maintain clarity in what could otherwise be a confusing scenario.

For Blumhouse, The Black Phone 2 succeeds where the overhyped and disappointing M3GAN 2.0 failed: it crafts a worthwhile sequel from a premise that seemed exhausted after one outing. It's a credit to Derrickson and his co-writer, C. Robert Cargill, that they keep this movie from tumbling into the grinder where so many would-be franchises die. The Black Phone 2 stands as a strong companion piece to the original - firmly rooted in horror, maintaining continuity, yet not shackled by the tropes its predecessor embraced.

© 2025 James Berardinelli

Synopsis

Four years ago, 13-year-old Finn killed his abductor and escaped, becoming the sole survivor of The Grabber. But true evil transcends death … and the phone is ringing again. Four-time Academy Award® nominee Ethan Hawke returns to the most sinister role of his career as The Grabber seeks vengeance on Finn (Mason Thames) from beyond the grave by menacing Finn’s younger sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw). As Finn, now 17, struggles with life after his captivity, the headstrong 15-year-old Gwen begins receiving calls in her dreams from the black phone and seeing disturbing visions of three boys being stalked at a winter camp known as Alpine Lake. Determined to solve the mystery and end the torment for both her and her brother, Gwen persuades Finn to visit the camp during a winter storm. There, she uncovers a shattering intersection between The Grabber and her own family’s history. Together, she and Finn must confront a killer who has grown more powerful in death and more significant to them than either could imagine.

Playing At

• Regal Hollywood - Nashville
  719 Thompson Lane, Nashville, TN
• Regal Opry Mills
  570 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville, TN
• AMC CLASSIC Murfreesboro 16
  2626 Cason Square Boulevard, Murfreesboro, TN