The Black Phone
“The Black Phone” really solidified what I like about Scott Derrickson as a horror filmmaker, and it really makes me want to go back and re-evaluate his 2005 film, “The Exorcism of Emily Rose,” which I liked, but didn’t love at the time. When he’s working in horror, he works to make the film about real-world issues and struggles before bringing in the supernatural that will drive the narrative, and it started with that film, which starts with the supernatural before bringing in the real world. I have not read Joe Hill’s short story, which Derrickson and “Sinister” co-writer C. Robert Cargill are adapting here, but I would imagine it’s that blend of reality and supernatural that interested them, and it’s a big reason why this film works.
The film begins at a baseball game in the suburbs of Denver, 1978. Finney (Mason Thames) is three strikes away from winning the game for his team, but Bruce (Tristan Pravong) takes him downtown with three strikes. Not long afterwards, Bruce disappears. We see flyers put up on telephone polls and elsewhere about him, and other missing kids in the area. He will not be the last; Finney’s friend Robin (Miguel Cazarez Mora) will later be taken, and then, Finney himself. Who has taken him? The community knows him only as The Grabber (Ethan Hawke), but we see him in a black van, with Abracadabra painted on it. Finney is locked in a concrete room, with a metal door; the better for his screams to not be heard by the outside world. All he has is a toilet, and a black phone. The latter is disconnected, but somehow, he still can hear people on the other line.
At the start of “The Black Phone,” the strongest connection we feel is between Finney and his sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw). Their home life is a challenge, as their father, Terrence (Jeremy Davies), drinks and is not above hitting them as punishment. This has been their life as a family since their mother died. Was there more to that? Gwen’s dreams have a way of reflecting reality, especially around these disappearances. The supernatural is not everything this movie is about, though; that would be hard to sustain. “The Black Phone” captures the anxiety of the “Stranger Danger” moral panic of the late ’70s and 1980s effectively, and rooting this film in loss and family is a huge part of its success- the bond between Finney and Gwen, and the way a lot of the narrative is rooted in Gwen trying to use her abilities, such as they are, to find Finney, helps engage us more than if it had just been about Finney in the room. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of interest there, as well.
Ethan Hawke is having a wild year. His performances in “Moon Knight” and “The Northman” have established him as someone taking risks as an actor after a career of largely playing regular people. As The Grabber, he creates a wicked villain that is sadistic and darkly funny. We don’t learn much about him, but we don’t need to; all we need to know is how much of a threat he is to Finney. This isn’t supernatural evil, which is what makes him so terrifying, and why the supernatural aspects of “The Black Phone” work; it’s not part of the threat, it’s part of helping Finney before he becomes a victim himself.
“The Black Phone” is a bit on the slow side of the slow-burn, but it builds to an emotional and visceral climax that had the audience I saw it with clapped and cheered at times, something I haven’t seen happen in a while. From a technical side, Derrickson’s film is terrific. Cinematographer Brett Jutkiewicz helps the director do something different with the style he brought to “Sinister,” accomplishing different things with the way he goes from a more natural look to something akin to 8mm film, and the score by Mark Korven is effective. The kids carry the film, though; Derrickson making sure they’re what sticks with us is why “The Black Phone” lands.
