The Black Phone 2 is directed by Scott Derrickson director of Hellraiser: Inferno (2000), The Exorcism Of Emily Rose (2005), The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008), Sinister (2012), Deliver Us From Evil (2014), Doctor Strange (2016), The Black Phone (2022) and The Gorge (2025). The film serves as a sequel to The Black Phone (2022).
When The Black Phone 2 was announced a lot of the reactions were something along the lines of “where does it go from here?” The first film was a surprisingly quite strong film that felt raw, it also came out in 2022 the year that was filled to the brim with excellent horror films. Luckily The Black Phone 2 does the smart move of being the complete opposite of it’s predecessor, rather going for more of the same thing the film opts to go for this Nightmare On Elm Street inspired feel. Which in the end works in the film’s favor due to just how well the film is executed.
The performances all around are fantastic, Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw are both once again fantastic, we get to see their trauma and what has changed since the last film. McGraw especially gets one particular moment during the film’s final moments that I was not expecting to cry at, without spoiling it I will say that it was a very well built up to moment that really does a fantastic job of showing Gwen as a character and just strong McGraw is here. It’s a touching moment that leaves the viewer in tears during the film’s final moments.
Although Ethan Hawk is not in the film as much as one would expect, what makes The Grabber so effective this time around is feeling his presence in the atmosphere itself. Ethan Hawke does deliver a solid performance here and while it is a bit of a shame we do not get to see him as much as we did in the first film, I do think the payoff and what we do end up getting with the atmosphere and dream sequences (I’ll get into that soon) is wonderful and makes up for it.
The supporting cast such as Demián Bichir and Arianna Rivas are both strong here as well, we get to see some genuinely solid moments of the two helping Finney and Gwen, plus a few moments of Bichir’s character Armando showing some vulnerability. It might not be a particularly huge moment but it does show that the film wants everyone to at least be involved in the film’s world.
The Nightmare On Elm Street inspirations become very clear when it comes to the dream sequences, these sequences are filmed using an 8mm camera and they are quite haunting. You can fell the dark atmosphere and The Grabber’s presence throughout these scenes, these moments perfectly capture what it’s like to have very unclear and confused dreams that get you thinking about what exactly happened. The 8mm camera only adds to the blur and confused nature as well as this terrifying painting of trauma, there is this theme of trauma here that is very effectively done. As the dream sequences keep occurring we see more and more build up until the whole film leads to the return of The Grabber making his presence known.
The writing does have its cornball moments, however the film mostly stays on the ball with delivering a ton of genuine moments that are touching. Finney’s bond with his sister Gwen is incredibly charming and the roster of characters all feel involved as I mentioned before, some are definitely more important than others but the film does a great job of giving these characters life.
Overall The Black Phone 2 is a very strong sequel that’s just as great as its predecessor, it was a very smart move to go for a much different direction rather than doing the same thing again. It does interest me where they will go if a Black Phone 3 does happen.
The Black Phone 2 is available on all VOD platforms.
9/10 A
Jerome Reviews... 