The Black Phone review: Take the call

Despite living in a world of big budget blockbusters and strings of high-profile sequels, every year a couple of modest horror movies manage to stand out, earning critical and commercial success. They may lead to franchises, but typically they’re original creations to begin with, making them even more special.

One of this year’s breakout genre hits is The Black Phone, although this horror-thriller isn’t short on pre-existing pedigree. It’s not a scruffy indie release with unknowns behind and in front of the camera. The film is based on an award-winning short story by Joe (Locke & Key) Hill, AKA the accomplished son of Stephen King; and is directed, co-written and produced by Scott Derrickson, the filmmaker behind the memorably chilling Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, as well as the visually striking first Doctor Strange movie.

This is all behind-the-scenes significance, though, more likely to be appreciated by film enthusiasts than the more casual cinemagoer. This said, both groups will likely enjoy the way The Black Phone taps into the retro-set horror trend – think The Conjuring cinematic universe, X, It and Stranger Things – by setting its events in 1978. The film also has novelty value in that it sees Ethan Hawke, for the first time in his career, play a villain who is pure, inexcusable evil. As the greatest hook of all, The Black Phone includes a paranormal angle, but uses as its basis the all-too-real horror that is child abduction. You can almost think of the film as a gritty (and gory) true crime tale with a touch of the supernatural.

In a Denver suburb, 13-year-old Finney (Mason Thames), a frequently bullied science nerd, becomes the latest target of a masked child abductor and killer, nicknamed The Grabber (Hawke). Finney is locked in a soundproof basement, but he finds help in a most unexpected form. A disconnected phone on the wall provides a link to the Grabber’s previous victims. From beyond the grave, these other kids offer advice to help Finney accomplish what they couldn’t, and escape his hellish situation.

And that’s about all there is to The Black Phone, barring a secondary arc to do with Finney’s younger sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), who is prone to psychic visions. The tight focus and simplicity of The Black Phone is one of its greatest strengths, though. At 103 minutes, this is a lean and distilled thrillfest that refreshingly doesn’t try to over-explain things. It simply shows, and leaves viewers to make their own assumptions. For example, the film never dissects the psychological motivations of The Grabber, which makes him even more of a terrifying enigma.  

Speaking of The Grabber, Hawke’s performance is reminiscent of James McAvoy in Split, but is less skewed to devouring scenery, and more credibly menacing and unpredictable. In fact, The Black Phone is elevated by convincing acting across the board. Thames, in his movie debut, and McCraw, shine as close-knit siblings whose far from ideal home life have made them resourceful, but at the same time hasn’t crusted over their sensitive sides. They react to intense situations as you’d expect kids to do in reality, and are always likeable; never obnoxious. Fans of Stranger Things and It should enjoy The Black Phone as another horror tale where adolescents are proactive and drive the action, instead of the adults who are typically clueless or inept.

The only real gripe about The Black Phone is that the filmmakers could have pushed the tension even higher. For some reason there’s never a risk that The Grabber will discover Finney’s escape efforts, which feels like a missed opportunity. The film also perhaps indulges in one too many jump scares. Granted the action is largely restricted to one grimy subterranean dungeon, but The Black Phone sticks to fairly conventional ways to dial up the fright factor, only sprinkling some stylish flair on the surface to make it visually more interesting.

At least The Black Room is intense without ever being sordid and exploitative, à la torture porn – which it could easily have been. By avoiding genre excesses, it should make the film more accessible for non-horror fans. It definitely is worth watching if your entertainment tastes lean in a darker direction.

The Black Phone opens in South African cinemas on Friday, 16 September 2022. It had its wide release in North America on 24 June, and is now available for home viewing in that territory.