Black Phone 2 Movie Review

Black Phone 2 (2025)

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Written by: Joe Hill (short story "The Black Phone"), Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill (written by)
Directed by: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
True evil transcends death and the black phone rings again as The Grabber torments Finn, the teen who killed him, from beyond the grave by menacing his sister Gwen. 

Verdict
This has a slow start. We're nearly half way in before we get any semblance of plot. Before that this is just a montage of creepy or distressing images as characters have visions. With a purpose, this gets better, culminating in a dream-zombie-ghost face off that's quite awesome if you're into that kind of thing. Could it have been executed better? Yes. Does it make up for the first half of the movie? Not really. The movie is uneven and too long. While the core idea works great for the genre, we're burdened with everything else this tries to do.
It depends.

Review
A sequel to 2021's Black Phone where Finney (Mason Thames) was abducted by "The Grabber." He's provided help through messages relayed by a disconnected black phone. At the same time his sister has visions that may lead the police to Finney's location. Finney ends up eliminating The Grabber due to the help received via the phone.

With this movie Finn (Mason Thames) is the kid everyone challenges because Finn is the kid that stopped a serial killer. He's in a lot of fights, and he's not over the events of the first movie. He still has visions of the Grabber. His sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) also has visions, getting calls from her deceased mom and seeing the basement from the first movie.

Madeleine McGraw plays Gwen

Most of the first half is the movie trying to be scary with images of injured children and more supernatural phones. What's the point? The villain seems to be in their nightmares. It's all a bunch of hallucinations with the movie being more conceptual. It's a horror montage.

We finally get to the plot when Gwen realizes she was called to a camp to free the souls of campers that Wild Bill, the Grabber, killed as a teen. Somehow their bound souls give the Grabber power beyond the grave. I don't understand the logic of it, but I was glad the movie finally has a goal. The movie isn't about what makes sense, it's for the scares. The Grabber called Gwen to the camp because that's where he's more powerful. He's attacking her because she's Finn's sister. Generally, how did no one notice all these kids at the camp dying?

Mason Thames, Ethan Hawke play Finn, the Grabber

This becomes Nightmare on Elm Street as the line between dreams and reality blur. It culminates in a face off on the frozen pond. Gwen tries to fight zombie Grabber in her dreams with the ghosts of his victims while the Grabber attacks people in thy physical world who try to locate the victims' bodies. It's wild. The finale should have been the movie. This sequence could have been more intense if the movie ramped up to it. This movie is two hours long and shouldn't be, and the introduction should be cut down. Getting this down to ninety minutes would help. I don't know if it would be enough, but I enjoyed the finale. Unfortunately I had to wade through so much other stuff to get to it.