Give Black Phone 2 Credit for Daring to Be Different

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Fans might recall that the villain from *The Black Phone* – the creepy, masked kidnapper Ethan Hawke brilliantly portrayed – was definitively killed at the end of the first movie. While a villain’s death rarely stops a sequel, it seems to have inspired a fresh approach for *Black Phone 2*, director Scott Derrickson’s follow-up. Often, horror sequels simply offer more of the same scares and atmosphere – it’s all about delivering a familiar product. However, *Black Phone 2* stands out by being surprisingly different from the original. This might not please everyone, but it creates a unique and unexpected viewing experience.

The main characters return, with the story picking up in 1982, a few years after the first film. Finney Blake (Mason Thames) and his sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), are still living in north Denver. Though Finn is known as the boy who survived and defeated the Grabber, he hasn’t been celebrated for it. Instead, he’s struggling with his past and is shown aggressively confronting a classmate who mentions it, risking becoming the bully he once feared. Gwen, who possesses psychic abilities that helped her find her brother in the first movie, is now ostracized at school and labeled a witch. She’s also plagued by new, disturbing dreams. These dreams reveal her mother, Hope (Anna Lore), as a young girl in 1958 making a mysterious phone call near Alpine Lake, a Christian youth winter camp. In 1982, dream-Gwen answers the call.

Gwen inherited psychic abilities from her mother and begins having frightening visions of boys being hunted and killed in the woods surrounding the summer camp. It seems the victims are trying to reach out to both Hope in 1958 and Gwen in 1982 with messages from beyond the grave. Determined to uncover the truth, Gwen, Finn, and their friend Ernesto take jobs as counselors-in-training at Alpine Lake. However, a huge snowstorm traps them at the camp with only a few other people: the camp director, Armando, his niece Mustang, and an elderly Christian couple who disapprove of the kids’ language. The couple eventually become convinced that Gwen’s visions are evidence she’s communicating with the devil.

The Grabber isn’t truly gone; he’s now trapped in a terrifying afterlife similar to the one where his victims are stuck, endlessly waiting for their bodies to be discovered and their deaths to be avenged. He pursues Finn through an old phone booth and haunts Gwen’s dreams. The movie makes an interesting decision by transforming this human killer into a more supernatural, Freddy Krueger-like demon, giving him the ability to invade people’s minds and physically harm them while they sleep. This change makes the scares less focused and a bit harder to understand – you might find yourself trying to piece together the logic of what’s happening. However, this ambiguity can actually be a good thing, adding to the overall feeling of dread because the rules of this world are unclear. (My son, who really enjoyed the first *Black Phone* movie, thought this one was much scarier.)

I was really struck by how this movie felt different from most horror films. It freed the director to focus on creating a truly unsettling atmosphere, like what he did in *Sinister*. It’s not about jump scares; it’s a slow burn, filled with grainy, dreamlike sequences and a constant, creepy sound. Honestly, watching *Black Phone 2* felt like *being* in a nightmare. The bleak, wintery Colorado setting really added to that feeling, even if the landscapes weren’t always perfect. It blurred the lines between what was real and what was happening in the characters’ minds, which made it even more disturbing.

One of the biggest improvements in *Black Phone 2* is the stronger role given to Gwen. In the first film, she was often sidelined, which was disappointing, as she’s a more engaging character than Finn, and actress Madeleine McGraw is more captivating than Ethan Thames. This time, Gwen takes center stage, and McGraw portrays her with a convincingly tense and unsettling vulnerability. This hesitation proves particularly powerful during the film’s emotional peak. Overall, the entire cast delivers committed performances, lending the movie a genuine weight that’s a refreshing change from the often chaotic and messy nature of many modern horror sequels.

Look, *Black Phone 2* isn’t perfect – there’s a weird side story with Finn and marijuana, and honestly, some of the dialogue about trauma feels a bit forced, like it does in a lot of horror movies these days. But what really struck me was how genuine the film felt. It wasn’t afraid to go in unexpected, creepy directions, and even the religious aspects felt surprisingly sincere. There’s a moment where Gwen prays to Jesus, and it’s touching, especially considering the villain, Ernesto, finds it fascinating. It shouldn’t be a shock – she *does* talk to ghosts – but horror often treats faith with a cynical eye. Scott Derrickson, the director, is a Christian himself, and you can tell he really thinks about these things – life after death, lost souls. It’s a refreshing honesty that even *I*, as someone who doesn’t consider myself religious, found moving. I’m just curious if he can maintain that level of sincerity if they make a *Black Phone 3* – hopefully, it won’t go totally off the rails!

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2025-10-17 19:55