Pick Up the Phone Again…

The Call Gets Answered Again, But This Time, It’s Not Quite as Chilling- Black Phone 2 Review

Photo from Digital-News / CC BY-SA 4.0

On Oct. 17, “The Black Phone 2” premiered in theaters, making the return of one of horror’s most unexpected hits. Directed by Scott Derrickson and starring Mason Thames and Madelyn McGraw, the sequel continues the story of siblings, Finny and Gwen Blake, as they confront new challenges, both real and supernatural. 

The original 2022 film, based on Joe Hill’s short story, followed Finny after he was kidnapped by a masked child abductor and killer known as The Grabber. Trapped in a basement with only a disconnected phone, Finny talks to the killer’s past victims who help him fight back, survive and escape. 

In the sequel, Gwen's psychic dreams, shown in the previous movie, once again confuse the truth with nightmares. Along with Finny and their new friend Ernesto, played by Miguel Mora, Gwen travels to a mysterious camp in the mountains where strange things begin happening. While the movie is just as eerie as the first, it leans more into suspense than genuine fear.

The film takes its time building tension, focusing more on the characters’ bond and how trauma still affects their lives. Finny struggles to move forward after his past experiences while Gwen becomes more determined to understand her abilities. Their sibling dynamic feels genuine, just like the last movie, and adds emotional depth. 

Visually, “The Black Phone 2” is extremely appealing. The muted color palette, foggy forests and vintage setting gives it a sinister tone that pairs well with the story’s slower pacing. The dream sequences and psychic visions are lower in quality, making the audience feel like they’re watching a VHS tape. While visually striking, they overshadow the lack of real-world events that made the original story so appealing. At times, the story felt scattered, catching between a psychological thriller and a ghost story. The fear and tension from the previous movie was absent because of the overuse of unexplained occurrences. 

Performance-wise, Thames and McGraw are strong actors. Thames captures Finny’s quiet anxiety and trauma and makes his character believable, while McGraw brings energy and empathy to the character of Gwen. However, some scripting was slightly cringe and took away from the horror element of the movie.The Blakes’ sibling chemistry feels natural and gives the movie its emotional element, even when the story starts to lose direction. 

The supporting cast adds to the film, though some characters feel underused. Some are introduced with potential for deeper backstories, yet their roles are cut short or left underdeveloped. A few characters feel more like plot devices than people. Still, the ensemble contributes enough to keep the story engaging, even when the script feels incomplete.

While “The Black Phone 2” doesn’t quite recapture the tension of the first movie and can’t quite be categorized as horror, it succeeds as a psychological thriller. It is less about escaping a villain and more about confronting ghosts, both literal and figurative, that haunt the characters. 

Overall, it is a solid but unremarkable sequel: perfectly mediocre, not particularly scary, yet visually compelling enough to hold attention. Fans of the original will appreciate its return, even if it doesn’t have as strong a grasp the second time around. 

<Star Ratings>

Acting: ★★★★★

Plot: ★★★★★

Cinematography: ★★★★★

Overall: ★★★★★