Black Phone 2 (2025) Review!!

Synopsis – As Finn, now 17, struggles with life after his captivity, his sister 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.

My Take – I guess we all know by now about one of horror film’s oldest traditions: if a killer sells tickets, they don’t stay dead. Such is unsurprisingly also the case of The Black Phone (2021), an adaption of a short story by writer Joe Hill (Stephen King‘s son), which saw the main antagonist called the Grabber, played memorably by Ethan Hawke, getting dispatched in the climax.

But since the film was profitable enough, with a worldwide gross of $161.4 million on a $16–18 million budget, and earned glowing reviews, the Grabber has returned to strike back from the dead.

Fortunately, the follow-up arriving four years later happens to be no mere cash grab, instead it is an even more stylistically and thematically ambitious effort that mostly succeeds in its aspirations of being an all-time great horror sequel.

Returning alongside the main cast, writer-director Scott Derrickson (Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose) and co-writer C. Robert Cargill expand on the world with confidence and style, expanding on their established world while honoring the tone that made the first film work. Pushing boundaries by blending supernatural horror with psychological trauma and adding stunning new visual depth in interesting and bold ways.

Yes, conceptually it shares some similarities with the ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street‘ franchise, particularly as it leans hard into 80s horror staples. However, the film uses the familiar tropes and spins them in their own enjoyable and tense direction. And by linking the film’s emotional hook to the brilliant grown-up shoulders of Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw, it ends up delivering a dark, ominous, and poignant experience.

Set in 1982, four years after the events of the first film, the story once again follows Finney Blake (Mason Thames) is struggling to come to terms with his ordeal. Dealing with the symptoms of PTSD, the teenager struggles to control his anger and lashes out at anyone daring to test his new, harder edge.

Meanwhile, his sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) too is struggling with her hereditary psychic gifts and is having visions of past events linked to their late mother (Anna Lore).

And when she begins receiving eerie calls in her dreams and haunting visions of three boys being hunted at a remote Christian winter camp called Alpine Lake, with the determination to end the torment that binds them both, she convinces Finn and her friend Ernesto (Miguel Mora) to travel to the place in her visions during a raging snowstorm where they uncover a horrifying connection between The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) and their family’s past.

But once there, however, the local payphone begins to ring and Finney quickly finds himself talking to more victims of The Grabber’s sadistic games. As Gwen’s dreams begin to take a darker turn, and the voices of The Grabber’s victims become all too real, Finney quickly discovers that his arch nemesis has found a way back from the cold afterlife and intends to exact his revenge. Without a doubt, the lore of the series gets ramped up big time and the Grabber is even more menacing this time around.

While the story-line seems to get convoluted at times, director Derrickson and his co-screenwriter Cargill manage to invest the horrific proceedings with genuine emotion in their depiction of the tortured family dynamics between the two siblings and their father (Jeremy Davies).

Since, director Derrickson is no stranger to the horror genre, he exerts stylistic mastery over the material, using both Super 8 and Super 16 film for the nightmarish sequences to truly eerie effect. Not to mention the unsettling score by his son Atticus Derrickson.

Though the film is definitely a bit light on the actual scares, the atmosphere that pervades throughout the film carries it along. The wintery horror vibes are off the charts, and it’s tense through and through. The arctic setting amplifies the sense of isolation, making the relentless snow and ice feel even more oppressive as the story unfolds.

If there is any issue with the film, it’s that it spends too much time not trusting its viewers to follow along. While part of that is due to the layers of complexity and unwieldiness of dreams, but as the film’s third act ramps up, the minutes-long expository scene connects the dots for the characters and the viewers.

The returning cast is also quite stellar, and time has only improved their acting chops. Both Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw bring their A-Game here, and the film is all the better for it. Director Derrickson’s mandate of putting the children’s ordeal as the focal point of the first film was a stroke of genius. But in the sequel, with both actors now several years older, they grow into the role with refreshingly committed energy.

Like the first film, Thames brings Finney back to life with remarkable conviction, using the PTSD angle to add more layers to his character. And while he is the film’s heart, this film belongs to his sister Gwen. Madeleine McGraw brings us a more mature Gwen, working through the rugged terrain of figuring out how her psychic abilities work. She brings a deep range of believable trauma, fear, and, at times, a deep sadness as she connects the dots between The Grabber and her dead mother.

Ethan Hawke once again delivers pure menace. Every word drips with malevolence, his performance radiating the energy of a soul stripped down to evil itself. He is clearly relishing his second turn at playing the villain and he commits fully to playing this great villain.

Also returning are Jeremy Davies and Miguel Mora, who this time around plays the younger brother of Finn’s late friend Robin, add both levity and warmth. In newer roles, Demián Bichir and Arianna Rivas bring the much necessary humor and care to the teens’ lives. On the whole, ‘Black Phone 2‘ is a solid horror sequel that is effectively creepy, emotional, and heartfelt.