THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Films regularly allow viewers to escape reality, but they can also remind them of what is out there, that is ongoing terror. And I don’t think there is one quite daring about it like Joe Hill’s The Black Phone.
PLOT
The 2022 film takes place in a 1978 Denver suburb. The story follows two young siblings, Finney and Gwen Blake, who live with their widowed turned alcoholic/abusive father Terrence (Jeremy Davies). Finney gets bullied a lot in school and the only one other than his sister to defend him is his classmate Robin. Their friendship comes to an end when the latter gets abducted by a masked child abductor dubbed ‘The Grabber’. Before Robin’s abduction, Gwen shares with the authorities of her psychic dreams that showed her that The Grabber drives in a black van and carries black balloons, but they have a hard time believing her. Eventually, Finney gets abducted by The Grabber as well. When he wakes up from abduction, he is now in a soundproof basement where a disconnected rotary phone hangs. Although the Grabber claims it to be disconnected, Finney ends up communicating with his past victims, the first of which is Bruce (Tristan Pravong), who starts to forget his last name but remembers that he tried to dig a tunnel by removing floor tile. As the police’s search for Finney progresses, he gets another call from another victim named Billy (Jacob Moran). He warns the boy to not leave the basement whenever the Grabber leaves it open, because he’ll attack him with a belt if he does. He even advises him to use a cord from the basement window to break the bars that surround it. But when he breaks the bars, it prevents him from climbing up. Gwen starts getting psychic dreams of what’s going on with her brother and although her father doesn’t believe it to be real, she assures him that it is. During the investigation, Detectives Wright (E Roger Mitchell) and Miller (Troy Rudeseal) speak to a local resident named Max (James Ransone), whose staying in the area with his unnamed brother. They dismiss his theories when they see his drug stash in the living room. Little do all three know that the Grabber is Max’s brother and Finney is in the basement. When they leave, another ghost named Griffin (Banks Repeta) tells the boy about a combination to unlock. Finney does succeed in unlocking it and gets outside momentarily, but the Grabber’s guard dog alerts him, resulting him in getting recaptured. The next ghost that calls him is Vance (Brady Hepner), who he remembers being afraid of when he was alive. Vance informs him of a storage room he can escape through if he can break through the wall and exit through the freezer on the other side. Finney does break through, but the freezer door is locked. At the point of giving up, he gets one last call and this time, it’s from his friend Robin. He teaches him to defend himself and instructs him to fill the phone receiver with dirt, so he can use it as a weapon. At this same night, Gwen starts dreaming of Vance’s abduction and remembers the house, resulting in her to quickly reach out to the authorities on where her brother might be. When they get there the next day, the only thing that they find are the bodies of the past victims. Little do they realize that Finney and the Grabber are across the street. When Max finds Finney in the basement, he is killed by his own brother with an axe before he could even try to save him. The Grabber tries to finish off Finney as well, but the boy is able to avoid harm. He traps his abductor by tricking him to fall into the hole he dug, causing him to break his ankle. He then beats him with the receiver before strangling him with it's cord. He gets rid of his last obstacle that is the dog, by giving it meat from the freezer in order to finally leave the house. Once he's outside, he reunites with his family and authorities investigate the second house. The film ends with Finney going back to school with newfound confidence.
THOUGHTS
When I see a movie, I never expect it to give its dips of reality, but I respect it when it happens nonetheless. So when it came to seeing this at a drive-in, you can say I was overall shook, which is the ultimate translation of impressing me. Scott Derrickson’s return to directing horror is nothing but welcome as it feels like he never left this realm. Having said that, he succeeds in making something that is so claustrophobic to witness. When you add the eery score by Mark Korven and impressive cinematography by Brett Jutkiewicz, you start to accept/understand the truth that the world is scary and we’ve been surrounded by monsters without knowing it. With its addition of its supernatural element, it speaks up to how we as humanity must destroy evil to maintain the peace you strive for. In this movie’s case, the main monster is child abduction because you never see it coming and the threats you don’t see coming are the most terrifying. The movie even feels empowering because it shows the hopefulness of overcoming evil. And with such a great protagonist duo, that feeling couldn’t be any more stronger. On the first hand, Mason Thames has us root for Finney throughout because he’s a kid that never asks for trouble, yet trouble always came to him. With his mom dead, he felt out of place and didn’t know how to stick himself out there. With the minimum amount of luck he had, Robin was the one who motivated him to take a stand. In Miguel Mora’s minimum screen time, we understood how that kid lived a different life in comparison. He grew up in an environment where he had to strive for himself. He grew up tough and even after death was able to teach Finn the same, knowing that he didn’t deserve the mistreatment he put up with. He truly became the best friend to ever ask for because without him, Finn would not have been able to unlock the determination to escape from such personal hell. So seeing him go to school afterwards, it symbolizes how he intends to continue being his confident self from then on. Aside from Robin, there was still the other half that deeply cared about him. Madeleine McGraw definitely made a good impression for playing Gwen as the most loving sister to Finn. She came off more brave in her perspective because she lacked hesitation when it came to looking out for her brother. Whether it was confronting bullies or using her powers to narrow down where he was held captive, you won’t stop admiring how far she’ll go to save him. With the tragedy behind them, I feel sure that things will get better for everyone indoors. If their dad really is sorry for his bad parenting, then I hope he gives up what holds him back from being a better person. When you protagonists to root for, it is logical to have a villain to root against. In this story, there is no one quite despicable like The Grabber. Ethan Hawke has instantly made a new horror icon for filling the room with nothing but dread whenever playing this character. Of course the terror comes from how you don’t know the reason of his actions, but each form of mask he wore definitely represents how he hides the guilt of it. That alone shows how unstable of a figure we’re seeing. There’s been a fair share of villains that have been justified, but the Grabber is pure evil. So when the ghosts of his victims taunt him when he dies, it makes his demise all the more bittersweet. This film may have exceeded expectation, but even a movie as good as this had its moments that left me confused. For instance, how has Terence not gotten rid of Gwen's dollhouse? This guy sucks in general for letting alcoholism get the best of him, but if he really wanted her to abandon the idea of her being psychic, he should've done that. The Grabber is very smart to abduct kids that are isolated, but why would he pull it off in a populous neighborhood? I don't want to root for this villain at all but if he really wants to keep this going, avoid a risk like that. I even put in question on why keeping the phone of he's denial of it working. This is the big macguffin of the movie, so there's no point in keeping it if he thinks it doesn't work. But the biggest mistake he makes is not being observant in the basement. He focuses on Finney so much that he doesn't even notice what he's doing to escape. And how has Max not been in the basement before? For someone as curious as him, I'm surprised that he didn't look into it sooner, much like how he never walked in on his brother in his mask sitting in the kitchen, with a belt. That's too much of a risk for the Grabber to make if he doesn't want him to know either. And how did he not take the rocket flashlight from Finney? To top it off, why would he keep the same lock Griffin unlocked? He should've bought a new lock after that. He scratched his arm up with that thing, which makes it a formidable weapon before the receiver. I like that the kid is having chances to defend himself, but he is very lucky the Grabber didn't pay him down. Also, why didn't Finney hide when he saw the van? Since the Grabber didn't use headlights, he could've taken a turn and hid in one of the backyards. I then wonder if the Grabber locked the freezer before or after grabbing Vance? It's a smart decision on his end, but it would've been better to know a legit reason behind it. I do adore Gwen for not giving up on her brother, but god was I worried whenever she rode her bike alone. I know she can't rely on her dad to help, but there should've been an alternative for her to not be in danger as well. And lastly, how did Finney not hear the dog until he tried leaving? The basement may be soundproof, but the rest of the house ain't. Other than that, this movie will still give me chills. In conclusion, The Black Phone is easily one of the scariest movies of the year for knowing exactly how to get under your skin. If you're looking for true horror, this one will do it for you.
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