Title: The Black Phone
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Ethan Hawke
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins

What It Is: A paranormal horror-thriller set in 1978 follows Finney (Thames) and Gwen (McGraw), two close siblings who struggle to cope with their abusive alcoholic father in the midst of a strain of child kidnappings. When Finney is the next to be taken by The Grabber and expected to play a violent game, he finds himself receiving strange and cryptic messages from an unconnected black phone in the basement of his kidnappers’ house. In the meantime, Gwen decides to hone what she thinks are psychic powers in order to try and find Finney.

What We Think: The hype for this movie was quite a bit, considering its directors’ previous line of works in horror, including Deliver Us from Evil, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and Sinister, which also starred Hawke. I’m sort of unsure of the direction that was taken in marketing the movie as if it was potentially the start of something bigger, a cinematic universe, perhaps, but I think it’s fine to start with the idea of it trying to establish its own iconisms. Do those, such as The Grabber’s strangely well-produced expression-shifting masks, for a memorable movie make? In my case, not particularly. The story is fine, and the overall narrative is sort of serviceable as a whole, though the setup feels tiresome and both lifted yet bogged down by dramatic scenes.

The child actors are king in this film, and all pull some It-level performances, though I find, somewhat notoriously, where the acting really comes to a head are when the children are being abused by their father. Was it a scene I found necessary? I debate that, though I do wonder why the father looked less like a deadbeat, raging alcoholic and more like he’d make your smoothie in Whole Foods and has a 5 Dollar Shave Club subscription. Details, framing, and pacing such as that could really bring down these serious moments. None of it was really impactful for me, so looking at it instead as a thriller and not a horror. Unfortunately, the twists and reveals on behalf of the mystery weren’t enough for me to be pulled or reeled in.

Our Grade: D+, Not for me. Some may like it and find it creepy or fun or alluring thanks to the great performances and ‘cold’ cinematography, but all the elements it tried to bring together left me with a rather flat note. I did not have fun nor was I surprised or daunted by the villain. I find myself very disinterested and don’t think I’ll be wanting to go back to this one anytime soon.