"The Black Phone" Review: A Spoiler-Free Early Screening

Vega
Jun 23, 2022
5 min read

Updated: Jun 23, 2022

Release Date: June 24, 2022

Platform: In Theaters

SPOILER FREE REVIEW

Another victim of a delayed release date, this highly anticipated forror film from "Doctor Strange" and "Sinister" director Scott Derrickson built a strong following after the initial trailer was released in October 2021. This was first meanr for January 2022 film, which became a February 2022 film, before ultimately cementing itself four months later into June. Getting the opportunity to catch an early release, even if by only 24-hours, was a no-brainer decision. As the film ended and the credits scrolled, the small crowd I was in, comprised of mostly teenagers free for the summer, burst into applause. However, I was not so quick to do so.

Set in 1978 Denver, thirteen-year-old Finney (Mason Thames) and his younger sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) are walking to school, leaving their alcoholic father at home as they talk about "the Grabber". Several young people from their small town have recently disappeared and there are no leads as to their whereabouts or the culprit, thus the kids have created their own mythology around the mysterious villain. The film opens by establishing the core cast and their relationships to some of the early victims. It is very effective in creating a sense of empathy for the timid and insecure Finney, a easy target for the school bully and his alcoholic father, but with a fire that he is too hesitant to ignite. Gwen, on the other hand, steals all of her scenes with a spunkiness behind every sarcastic comment and a fearless approach to life (except when it comes to her father). Perhaps due to their father's difficulties, the siblings are close and when Finney suddenly disappears, Gwen proves she has more determination than anyone else to find him, tapping into her greatest resource: her dreams.

This ability that she has also plagued her mother and is written off as mental illness, though there remains a bit of ambiguity regarding the nature of the visions she has. Ambiguity becomes a good word to describe many plot points sewn throughout the narrative. But before touching on that, it is importanct to note the film's greatest strengths are in its cast, starting with Ethan Hawke's impressive protrayal of the unnammed "Grabber". Donning some portion of a two-piece mask through the majority of his screen-time, Hawke relies on voice inflections, line delivery, and unsettling body language to create a haunting presence within the basement in which Finney is held. The strong performances must have been highly contagious, because both of the young leads also deliver notable performances. The writing for Gwen played to McGraw's strengths as she seamlessly flipped between the innocent daughter and the determined sister, given many memorable lines and moments. Thomas' Finney, on the other hand, puts on more of a classic acting performance, with strong facial/eye expressions to convey his own vulnerability. A strong display of non-verbals helped him build tension in his uncomfortable interactions with the Grabber, while also continuing to convey the innocence that keeps the audience cheering for him.

These performances, however, could not supplant the near bore of a story. There is never an indication of substance or motivation between much of the more interesting plot developments. Characters are doing things surrounding the goals of finding Finney and of him surviving or escaping, but it simply never dives below that surface. Out of all the questions raised regarding the Grabber's motivations, Gwen's visions, and the phone calls, not a single one is ever fleshed out. It is as though the movie edited out any and all explanation, leaving a bunch of happenings and a sense of ambiguity from the writer's about what the point of all this is. The disappointment surrounding the titular black phone and its mundane place as a plot device is unfortunate, given that it gets a lot of time and focus to simply be used in favor of Finney's character development. It accounts for the film's slowest moments and proves to be an intriguing trailer moment, but has no real substance across the greater narrative. Here comes the broken record, Gwen's dream ability is also left piece-mealed without any further understanding or explanation. It is kept to serve a simple purpose but is given too many layers and connections to other plot points to be left in a bubble. Its reliability is brought into question at first, but it ultimately becomes acknowledged as a serious source of information by multiple adults' whose initial skepticism is never shown to shift into belief. They just suddenly climb aboard the "my dreams are real" train, which feels too representative of many of the movie's transitions.

Scott Derrickson brings a hint of the highly regarded "Sinister" in the visual representation of some of the flashbacks and interactions between Finney and those on the other end of the phone calls. The home movie graininess that helped unravel the mystery at the heart of "Sinister" plays a similar role as Finney is offered new information to aid in his survival. However, there is not much to actually unravel. As little as the plot already gives and sets up for potential twists and reveals, there is not much that changes about the narrative understanding from beginning to end. Even what is set to be the climactic reveal has little impact and falls flat, though conceptually could have been really cool had the writing played with it more to create that sense of intrigue in the audience. There are moments of effective tension throughout Finney's time in the basement and his interactions with the dire situation he is in, but for a director like Derrickson, felt too amateur. The very few jump scares were pretty good, but come and go too fast to be built upon, diluting any real sense of dread for the characters.

Interesting enough, though, is the character development that is set-up for Finney in the movies opening scenes and his interactions with the "toughest kid at school". It plays a large role in the movie's conclusion, which I think is intended to be satisfying, and on the surface it is. But, again, it is far too simple for the oddities established and leaves very interesting concepts with no room to breath. The movie's best writing is in the opening third with the establishment of the characters, their relationships, and the terror plaguing the town. When the movie starts to roll into the main narrative, though, it seems to forget about being interesting and actually creating that terror. There are a lot of intriguing elements worthy of more depth, an unsettling antagonist with a haunting performance, and likeable leads, but very little between the cracks to mold it all together.