A Universal film starring Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, and Madeline McGraw, The Black Phone is set in a 70s era quaint Denver Mountain town who is shaken restless after children start to disappear throughout the area. The main character, Finney, is abducted by Ethan Hawke’s character “The Grabber” and thrown in his soundproof basement where he feels all hope is lost. He begins hearing the voices of the child murderer’s previous victims through a disconnected telephone on the wall and they attempt to help him escape The Grabber’s grasp before he suffers the same fate as they all had. This was a very interesting role to see Ethan Hawke take on as he portrays a full-blown psycho villain for the first time in his career despite efforts from the director himself to attempt to talk Hawke out of the role. He made it his own though and did a good job with the screentime he was given.
This movie did a good job at not showing the villain too much, but still made you feel as if he was lurking just around the corner, waiting to pounce. He was shown just enough to let the viewer in on his demented vision and increase his sense of unnerving villainy. On top of being a horror/thriller film, it was also a classic coming of age story involving middle school age kids and their run ins with bullying, crushes, and that awkward feeling of trying to fit in. Stephen King himself even said it had a feeling of a “Stand By Me in Hell.” All three of the main characters gave great, believable performances and really helped to pull you into the story and the tense situation that they were both put into and causing.
A word that comes to mind for The Black Phone is refreshing. It’s always nice to be surprised by a horror release during the summer months as it’s a little more unconventional timing to be treated to one. It was also just well-acted and told by all those involved. The movie itself didn’t have the biggest budget and it didn’t rely on jump scares to bring the feeling of fear to the viewer, but that doesn’t mean the feeling wasn’t there. It was a simple, easy to follow plot that let the viewer just watch and enjoy without having to overthink. Overall recommend for anyone looking for a more laid-back horror story that doesn’t leave the viewer thinking or questioning too much and do yourselves a favor and look out for the black balloons.
