While most current horror releases tend to focus on the gruesomeness of the killing act, there are those rare films such as Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023) that center more on character development and story than their counterparts. The new sequel to the 2021 horror entry The Black Phone is one such entry to the genre. Instead of simply regurgitating the premise and methodology of the first film, Black Phone 2 offers a primarily paired down version of a horror film that only teases with these issues in check.
Four years after escaping the clutches of the serial killer known as The Grabber, a now 17-year-old Finn (Mason Thames) is having trouble keeping his anger villain of the first film to greater effect than it might have achieved otherwise. But, manages to cope along with his younger sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw). However, when the 15-year-old Gwen begins to exhibit signs that she might share the gifts her mother displayed at that age and events begin to transpire suggesting that The Grabber may be returning in some form or another, brother and sister must revisit their mother’s past to confront the evil that has already taken so much from them before it can do so again.
Working from a script he penned along with C. Robert Cargill, director Scott Derrickson returns to helm the second film in a series he launched back in 2021. What is at play here though is less a film filled with jump scares or loud music cues than it is a honest-to-goodness thriller that builds tension as it creeps along to its final act. Throughout it all, Derrickson keeps a deft hand on the proceedings, such as providing the cue that when film stock shifts that is when a character is experiencing a vision of sorts. This initially seems like an attempt to infuse a bit of “art” into the genre, but it quickly becomes apparent that this is of vital importance to the momentum and progression of the narrative and proves all the more effective because of it.
Ethan Hawke and Mason Thames in “Black Phone 2.” Photo Credit: Universal Pictures – © 2025 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Although it might be expected that Mason Thames would be the anchor of the film as Finn, the real hero – or heroine – ends up being Madeleine McGraw’s Gwen. The character undergoes a character arc throughout the course of the film that allows her to develop from victim, to witness, to participant, to hero with bravado. By the time she finds her footing as such, she has become a crowd-pleasing badass the likes of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley from Aliens (1986). Furthermore, both Miguel Mora as Ernesto and Arianna Rivas as Mustang shine as their respective heroic characters as the film moves towards its satisfying conclusion.
What is most rewarding about the film is the pace at which it approaches its various stages. This is a compact, trapped in cabin, thriller that resorts to a more killer-oriented horror film at the end. The results of which are a far more effective film than might have been achieved otherwise.
If one is willing to give Black Phone 2 a chance and assume it will deliver something other than a retread of its predecessor, then that person will be rewarded with a remarkably taught and engaging thriller that successfully touches on multiple genres.
| Producer: | Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill, Jason Blum |
| Release Date: | October 17, 2025 |
| Running Time: | 116 minutes |
| Starring: | Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Demián Bichir, Miguel Mora, Jeremy Davies, Arianna Rivas, Maev Beaty, Graham Abbey |
| Writer: | Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill |
| MPAA Rating: | R (for strong violent content, gore, teen drug use, and language) |
| Director: | Scott Derrickson |
| Distributor: | Paramount Pictures |
| External Info: | Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / X (Twitter) / #BlackPhone2 |
