The Black Phone

2022 • 103 minutes

About this movie

Oscar® nominee Ethan Hawke, in the most disturbing role of his career, stars in a new psychological thriller from Blumhouse and the director who brought you Sinister and Doctor Strange. Finney Shaw, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic killer (Hawke) and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer's previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to Finney.

Ratings and reviews

The opening sequences are the most terrifying moments of the film. The most horrific scene of the film is the headline on the newspaper their child beating Father reads. Story is mixed between copies of The Room, with muddled dialogue. A scene where a dead boy teaches the captured kid to hit with a telephone would be funny if it weren't treated so serious, it becomes ridiculous. Wes Craven and John Carpenter are to be commended for the copied music, and same scene, different movie.

Really enjoyable film, I'd say. You're entering a long-ongoing horror story at the end of it, *because* it's the end. The pacing is perfect. You know where it's going, and it's nowhere good. The best part, though, is that you can see the arc the story has to take, but obstacles don't arrive in such a way that you as a viewer are getting frustrated with the arbitrary writing (other than the lie, which was dumb). You only reach *despair* when you should, and then - resolution. Really good movie.

Rented solely because it was recommended to me. It was a waste of my time. There was no explanation given for the most important events--even though an explanation was promised by the protagonist early in the film. Not gripping, not scary. Wasn't expecting a good film--because Blumhouse--so at least it met my expectations.