It’s funny when a movie makes you realize something about yourself. It could be a profound blind spot you have, a fundamental belief you’ve carried in silence all your life, or something much more trivial. “Black Phone 2” made me realize I am a sucker for misfit teens with special powers. I guess I always knew that, given my predilection for “X-Men” stories, “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors”, “Stranger Things,” “Doctor Sleep,” and more. But it was enjoying Scott Derrickson’s follow-up to his Joe Hill adaptation that it really hit home for me. After all, I could see a bunch of the film’s flaws and could see why folks may not like it, but as long as it served up these young weirdos working together against impossible odds, I was on board. That’s not all “Black Phone 2” has going for it, though; strong performances, cool visuals, and a smart use of an under-utilized setting helps make for an entertaining sequel that is just as assured as its predecessors.
It’s been four years since Finney Blake (Mason Thames) killed The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) and life has continued onwards. Finney now spends his days fighting his classmates who dare to ask about his experience and also losing himself in a haze of weed to dull the horrible trauma that threatens to constantly overcome him (while also ignoring the various psychic calls he still is getting from the beyond). Meanwhile, his sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) is having horrible nightmares about The Grabber and about some isolated camp in the mountains. Eventually the duo go to investigate this camp, and its connection to The Grabber and their mother, alongside their friend, Ernesto (Miguel Mora). Once there, they find a head of the Christian camp (Demián Bichir) with his own secrets and a location with its own sordid history that needs help. Oh and the persistent return of The Grabber in spectral form, seeking revenge on the children that murdered him.
1986’s “Aliens” is arguably the template for genre sequels. That’s not to say there haven’t been better or other notable follow-ups in genre filmmaking, just that James Cameron really nailed how to continue an amazing movie with a subsequent entry: highlight what worked in the first, expand the mythology, continue the characters’ journeys, all while balancing between the familiar and the new. “Black Phone 2” follows “Aliens” in (mostly) successfully hitting all those notes to deliver an excellent sequel that honors the first while forging its own path. Not everything totally works (there’s a revision/reveal about the characters’ histories that feels awkward and unnecessary), but it is a thrilling update to the already engaging world that Derrickson, co-writer C. Robert Cargill, and the rest previously established with 2021’s “The Black Phone.”
There are seemingly small choices made throughout by Derrickson and team that end up making major differences to ensure “Black Phone 2” is a satisfying experience. The winter timing sets it apart from a host of slashers set at campgrounds, while also allowing for references to some lesser-known genre titles like “Curtains” and “Cold Skin.” It’s worth noting that Derrickson and Cargill understand how to utilize references in their film, where if you get the nod, it’s fun and enhances the viewing by placing it in a tradition of other blood-splattered pictures; but audiences that don’t get those various winks aren’t missing out from anything in the main thrust of the movie. But back to the frozen setting, which allows for sequences that would be impossible in the summertime slashers, but now have a chance to occur and be unique in rewarding ways. Seeing The Grabber on ice skates, or the ominous visuals of a doomed child lost in the snow, is refreshing in its construction and captivating in execution.
The cast of “Black Phone 2”, most of them returning, are all great, with the Blakes in particular (Thames, McGraw, and Davies) having a real sense of chemistry that feels like lived in family dynamics. Hawke isn’t given as much to do in this entry, but The Grabber’s scenes are still impressively menacing; his rapport with the children that ruined him is darkly playful while barely obscuring a palpable rage at his own death. Hawke (and the screenwriters) seem to relish turning The Grabber into more of a supernatural villain, which makes his battles with the Blakes all the more engrossing—watching these fucked-up teens square off against otherworldly evil is exciting as they find new levels of strength and power to combat something far beyond their abilities.
By forcing these kids to navigate the impossible, outmatched while feeling like weirdos and terrified of the world around them, “Black Phone 2” immediately hooked me. Yes, I am predisposed to liking these stories. Maybe because I’m a misfit teen at heart. I don’t know. But I can say as a purveyor of many, many of these tales, that “Black Phone 2” is an excellent version. McGraw and Thames are especially impressive in their roles while Derrickson and company create many memorable sequences that harken back to familiar slasher staples while forging their own unique path. No, nothing is reinvented and a few stumbles happen along the way, but it is still a very entertaining movie that uses tropes to powerful effect that will find viewers happy to return to this unpleasant world they’ve created and watch to see if the freaks can eke out another victory.
3.5 / 5 Stars
Directed by: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Ethan Hawke, Jeremy Davies, Miguel Mora, Demián Bichir, Arianna Rivas
