MANILA, PHILIPPINES — One of the scariest things that a parent can probably imagine is losing their child in a kidnapping. It is a terrifying thought that no parent wants to go through. Imagine then what would happen if the child is the next in a series of kidnappings, where the other children are never heard from again. That is the scenario presented in The Black Phone.
It is 1978 in North Denver and Finney Blake (Mason Thames) lives in a small home with sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) and their alcoholic father Terrence (Jeremy Davies). Finney often gets bullied but is also protected by his tough friend Robin (Miguel Cazarez).
The town is terrified, however, when some teenage boys begin to disappear. A mysterious individual they’ve called “The Grabber” (Ethan Hawke) has been luring boys with black balloons and dumbing them in his black van. Things become all too real for Finney when Robin himself is taken, leaving him open to an attack by bullies.
In the middle of the police investigation, a couple of cops approach Gwen because she shared that she had dreams about some of the kidnappings. This results in Terrence beating Gwen until she says that her dreams are not important.
Even as he worries about Robin, Finney himself is abducted by The Grabber and finds himself locked in a dingy room. There is a black phone in the room, but it isn’t connected to anything. To Finney’s surprise, the phone starts ringing and voices on the other side begin to speak with him.
Director Scott Derrickson is well versed in the horror genre after previously directing The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister, and Deliver Us From Evil. After taking a detour into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2016’s Doctor Strange, Derrickson was supposed to handle the sequel as well but left due to creative differences.
Following that departure, Derrickson returned to the horror genre with a production company known for its horror films in Blumhouse Productions. The product of that collaboration is this adaptation of a short story by Joe Hill, son of noted horror writer Stephen King.
Setting The Black Phone in 1978 brings with it several things. Immediately, technology becomes a non-factor as there are no cellphones, Wi-Fi, Internet, or GPS readily available during that period. This is also a year after David Berkowitz, the serial killer known as “the Son of Sam,” had his killing spree in New York, so that adds to the film’s ambiance.
The concept of a serial killer going around a small, rural town is terrifying enough but adding the mystery of the black phone and what it entails adds to this film’s mystique.
As each kidnapped boy begins to speak to Finney and advise him on how to escape, they all say that they’ve forgotten their names, implying that they’ve died. This, Gwen’s vivid dreams about the kidnappings, and the additional mystery about what actually happened to Finney and Gwen’s mother are left to the viewer’s imagination to fill in the blanks.
The biggest name attached to The Black Phone is undoubtedly Hawke, and here, he is clearly not the matinee idol or sex symbol he has often been portrayed as. It is refreshing and brave for him to take on this strange and creepy a role as this, as was the case when he recently portrayed the main antagonist in the Marvel miniseries Moon Knight.
By keeping part or most of Hawke’s face hidden behind the unique mask that The Grabber uses, Hawke is left to ask with his voice and with his body, taking away some of our preconceived notions about him. It’s an effective tool in distancing Hawke from his extensive acting resume and was also probably one of the things that appealed to the actor.
Derrickson entrusted the young actors cast to do most of the heavy lifting for this film. Thames, as Finney, is left to convey terror, helplessness, fear, and eventually, resourcefulness, courage, resolve, and strength. It’s admirable work for someone relatively new to acting and can only help him in the future.
The director also uses a couple of unique tricks when the dead victims talk to Finney. Aside from their disembodied voices and using flashbacks to show the boys’ lives, Derrickson eventually shows them in the same room. It could be viewed as gimmicky but it makes their struggle to escape and to help Finney’s own liberation more tangible instead.
It would have been easy for McGraw to just portray a stereotypical terrified teen but instead, her character is given depth with her backstory. Their mother was supposed to also have vivid dreams which eventually led to her death and her father is determined to beat this out of her.
The scenes where Gwen is praying to Jesus and eventually frustrated that Finney is still missing are some of the more lighthearted ones in a movie with such a heavy subject.
As thrillers go, The Black Phone could have been forgotten amid others in the genre. Still, thanks to the combination of Hawke’s inspired turn, Derrickson’s direction, the late 1970s setting, and the acting of the teenage actors, it manages to offer something new to its audience.
