Black Phone 2

Grade: B+

I thought highly of The Black Phone three years ago. I found it to be a wonderfully done adaptation coming from a young man with strong horror-writing genes (Joe Hill – Stephen King’s son). The ending was vindicating and satisfying, where what I hoped would happen to every character was exactly what did. I wondered how there could have been a sequel, much less one with Ethan Hawke involved. What happened to him at the end of the 2022 film was pretty final.

So, how is Hawke in Black Phone 2? Its preceding movie concluded with his character, The Grabber, being outsmarted and killed by Finn, who ended up being the last of a long list of children abducted by The Grabber. Finn is now 17, with a pretty happy life, though he secretly smokes pot to help with some understandable PTSD. The screenplay never misses an opportunity to pound into our heads that it’s 1982. Everything is radical, mint, choice, and they hope they can get tickets to Duran Duran. Some critics found this to be annoying and forceful, but I thought it was endearing.

Finn’s younger sister Gwen has recently had The Grabber appear to her in vivid dreams, Nightmare on Elm Street style. She sees visions of murders that occurred at Alpine Lake Camp in 1957, where their late mother once attended. Finn and Gwen make the trip to Alpine Lake. The first movie dealt with The Grabber. Now that he’s taken care of, this one is more about the teenagers finding the bodies of the victims, so they can be properly put to rest, and their families can finally have closure. There is never a question of whether what we see is a dream or real life. Director Scott Derrickson films the dream sequences with an awesome grainy Grindhousey visual.

The child actors reportedly became great friends with Ethan Hawke. For that reason, I’m glad they found a way for him to return. All of the main players are back. The appealing Mason Thames as Finn, after the first film, went on to star in the Netflix movie Incoming, which I called this generation’s American Pie. He has some nice projects coming up, including Regretting You, opening this weekend. As Gwen, Madeleine McGraw steals the show once again with her unorthodox prayers. Jeremy Davies is back as their dad. In the first movie, he was an abusive alcoholic emotionally vacant recent widower – and the ending had him weeping while hugging the kids and saying “I’m so sorry for everything.” The director asked him to play the role not as a villain, but as a tortured soul in pain. He is a very different man in Black Phone 2. He is now three years sober, and supportive of the kids. The three actors seem to have a great time together, and it’s so beautiful to see the man he always was deep down inside.

Before the action climax, there is another one, of the dramatic/narrative variety. It’s just the actors talking, relating, unpacking, and figuring things out. I don’t even think there’s underscoring during it. It is at least as impactful as the action sequence that follows it. I really enjoyed so much of what I saw in Black Phone 2, and I liked it almost as much as the first. I appreciated that all the main actors returned. They have a chemistry and rapport with each other, they created beautiful dynamics/relationships, and – except for the obvious one – I hoped these characters succeeded in life when the events of the plot were all over. I didn’t know how there COULD have been a Black Phone 2, but I’m so glad it got made.

Grade: B+