Black Phone 2 - Review: A Chilling Reception

 

In the world of horror sequels, there are two schools of thought on how to approach a follow-up film: doing everything virtually the exact same as before or mixing it up completely. After the smash-hit success of 2021’s “The Black Phone,” Blumhouse has reteamed with that film’s director Scott Derrickson (“Sinister,” “Doctor Strange”) and co-writers Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill (“Sinister,” “Doctor Strange”) for a sequel that certainly sets itself apart from the original in setting and temperature.

Set four years after the events of the first film, this tale follows teenaged boy Finney, played by Mason Thames (“How to Train Your Dragon (2025),” “Regretting You”), the only known survivor of the serial killer known as the Grabber, played by Ethan Hawke (“Training Day,” “Before Sunset”), and his teenaged sister Gwen, played by Madeleine McGraw (“Outcast,” “Secrets of Sulphur Springs”). After Gwen begins to have dreams of communicating with her deceased mother at her old mountain Christian youth camp, Finney, Gwen, and Gwen’s crush Ernesto, played by Miguel Mora, venture to the camp. After arriving, Finney finds himself once again haunted by a disconnected ringing phone allowing him to talk to the spirits of the deceased with Gwen’s dreams becoming more violent as the Grabber attempts to kill her and Finney from the dream world and beyond the grave.

Derrickson’s experience with this world and set of characters leads to a particularly confident second outing. There’s little time spent winding things up or establishing characters. He and Cargill assume that you’re already up to speed, which means the film’s first act has very little fat on its bones. Things get creepy from the start, taking a much more supernatural turn than the first film’s comparatively grounded reality. The film is fantastically atmospheric, spending a lot of time establishing the vibes of Gwen’s dreams versus reality and the youth camp. Thick blankets of snow and a massive frozen lake allow for a completely different vibe than the dingy basement and suburban streets of the first film, setting it apart in the best way.

Thames is turning in a reliably good performance here, delving into the trauma of the first film’s events on him and his role as an overprotective big brother. Mora adds to the supporting cast well with a reliable bit of banter, but the side characters of Armando, the camp supervisor played by Demián Bichir (“The Hateful Eight,” “A Better Life”), and his niece Mustang, played by Arianna Rivas (“A Working Man”), are veritable scene stealers once they appear. The gruff warmth they bring to the film is welcomed and works as a character rebuff against Finney’s anger and Gwen’s supernatural fears.

Hawke is expectedly great, having a lot of fun with the menace of the role and playing up the Freddy Krueger-esque dream invasions. It’s more of a vocal role than a physical one this time around, but he’s still exceptionally terrifying and a highlight of the project. However, the biggest boon this time around is McGraw as Gwen. If the first film was Finney’s journey, this one is very much hers. She gets the most interesting character material to delve into, and her performance is exceptional. She’s easy to become attached to and her arc through the film, while it may be basic, is nevertheless effective and exciting.

Derrickson’s control of the scares feels different this time around, delving hard into flashback dream sequences thick with chunky film grain. It’s exceptionally unsettling the first time it happens, and even as the immediate unease wears away, it's a great calling card for when things are about to crank up the spooks. There are a handful of moments that even break conventional structure, with cinematographer Pär M. Ekberg (“Polar,” “Lords of Chaos”) smudging out the grain and purposefully obscuring the time and place. It’s a great little stylistic distinction that attempts to discomfort more than scare, coupled with a startling, squeaky electronic musical score from Atticus Derrickson (“V/H/S/85”).

Where the film does unfortunately falter is in its more serious dramatic moments. For as effective as the scares and atmosphere are, the drama just falls flat. It’s fairly routine familial strife, dealing with anger and fear and letting go. A monologue from McGraw in the third act sounds like every other speech given in other films with similar plots smushed together. Finney and Gwen’s father Terrence, played by Jeremy Davies (“Justified,” “Rescue Dawn”), also reappears here, but its almost as if Derrickson and Cargill forget about him for about half of the film. When the drama and these familial elements are tied into the scares, they really work. When they try to break out and have more “serious” conversations, they border on sleep inducing.

"Black Phone 2” definitely mixes things up from the first film, changing setting and tone to turn into something more brutally supernatural than quiet and grounded. It’s different for sure but still delivers on the scares and tension with Madeline McGraw commanding control of the film alongside Ethan Hawke. The stylized dreams and snow-covered locals lend it a differing visual identity as well, helping to overcome the less interesting dramatical elements. It’ll be a frightfully good time for anyone looking for a little snowfall with their spooks. 4/5