“Black Phone 2,” directed by Scott Derrickson, is a sequel to “The Black Phone,” which came out in 2021. Largely, the film tackles the same themes as the first, but more directly, and I would argue, less effectively. There will be spoilers for the first movie in this review.
This film was slightly scarier than the first one, but not by much. The main problem the film has is its existence. The first one had a very good ending to it and wrapped everything up. While the second one does not undo anything, it does just feel strange. It is telling a very similar story but expanding the lore of the Grabber, which made him less scary. And with how well the sequel did there is a high likelihood that a third one will be made, which will likely also feel unnecessary.
“The Black Phone” movies are concerned with a few things, but most prominently, religion. But the way in which the subject is used with nuance makes the film stand out.
Reprising their roles are Mason Thames as Finney, Madeleine McGraw as Gwen Finney’s sister, Jeremy Davies as Terrence, their father, and Ethan Hawke as the Grabber. Demián Bichir plays Armando, who owns a youth camp. It has been three years since Finney was kidnapped by the Grabber, who he proceeded to kill.
Gwen starts dreaming of a place called Alpine Lake, a place where their deceased mother was a counselor. Meanwhile, Terrence has stopped drinking, leading to him being less abusive. Gwen decides she wants to go to the place with her friend Ernesto, and Finney, not liking the guy, tags along with them. They arrive at the camp during a snowstorm and meet Armando. Gwen starts to have more vivid dreams, and Finney gets calls from a broken phone booth revealing that the Grabber still exists in a ghostly form.
For a sequel, this is pretty unique, while still keeping some of the core elements – the most obvious being its religious undertones. Unlike other movies with religious themes, “The Black Phone” series does not desire to shove it down your throat and instead subtly mentions it and references it. For example, the black phone allows one to speak to the dead. In the first film, the Grabber does not believe in the power of the black phone. Gwen also, alongside dreaming of events she could not possibly know of, is religious. The camp is a religious one. In the second film, one of the admins at the camp accuses Gwen of having the devil in her after an incident with the Grabber. This shows that Derrickson has a deep and nuanced view on the subject, which one can appreciate.
One thing that pulled me straight out of the movie was the inclusion of a song called “Subways of Your Mind” by the German band Flex. The problem with this is that this song was part of an internet search first of the full song and then eventually the band behind it which only ended in 2024. It would not be on TV in Colorado in 1982, and it felt rather useless and just took me out of the movie.
All that being said, “Black Phone 2” is a good movie, and you should watch it if you liked the first one. I would give it an 8.1 out of 10.