The Black Phone

The Black Phone is a 2022 American supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson and written by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, who both produced with Jason Blum. It is an adaptation of the 2004 short story of the same name by Joe Hill. The film stars Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, James Ransone, and Ethan Hawke. The film premiered at Fantastic Fest on September 25, 2021, and was theatrically released by Universal Pictures in the United States on June 24, 2022.

Plot
Finney Shaw is a shy but clever 13-year-old boy who's being held in a soundproof basement by a sadistic, masked killer. When a disconnected phone on the wall starts to ring, he soon discovers that he can hear the voices of the murderer's previous victims -- and they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to Finney.

Why You Should Ring The Black Phone

 * 1) Ethan Hawke does a fantastic performance as The Grabber, the main antagonist and child abductor/serial killer with a penchant for creepy masks. He is scarier than the actual ghosts. We never quite learn why he kidnaps the boys, only that he likes to play a sadistic game called "naughty boys" where if they attempt to escape, he beats and kills them.
 * 2) Very faithful to the source material from short story of the same name by Joe Hill. Even Stephen King loved this movie, because he believed it was like "Stand by Me in hell".
 * 3) Director Scott Derrickson returns to direct much better horror movie after he departed from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in favor of Sam Raimi (although he remained as an executive producer). As the result, his directing is considered the major improvement from mediocre movies.
 * 4) Mark Korven's scarier and dramatic score is amazing; and on the topic of music, Pink Floyd's "On the Run" is used as the soundtrack to the climax of the film, and it manages to be just about the only piece of music that can suit the scene's extremely anxiety-inducing mood.
 * 5) Very scary scenes that connects the tone very well.
 * 6) *The Black Phone. While it actually is useful to Finney in allowing him to speak with past victims, we know very little about it. The only ones who ever hear it ringing are Finney and the Grabber, and the latter is actually afraid of it, not wanting to believe in it and insisting it doesn't work (justified, as his victims are able to use it). Also, at two separate points in the film, Finney can hear the phone breathing.
 * 7) *While the film does have jump scares, they are used very well and be deeply unsettling. The jump scares also are combined with the haunting atmosphere of the basement making them more terrifying.
 * 8) Thanks to a combination of all the tips the ghost boys provided him, especially Robin's reassurance, Finney stands up to the Grabber by hitting him with the dirt-filled black phone and improvising the chord and hole from earlier to immobilize the Grabber long enough to then break his neck with the phone. The last thing the Grabber hears is his previous victims taunting him about his impending demise.
 * 9) Before the movie, the new logo of Blumhouse Productions is officially introduced.
 * 10) Even with its scary moments, there are heart-breaking scenes like Robin giving words of encouragement for Finney and leaving for the last time.
 * 11) Great ending. Finney kills the Grabber and is rescued by the cops. His abusive father apologizes for how he treated him and his sister and Finney becomes popular at school for killing his abductor.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Some scenes are coming out of place and unintentionally hilarious.
 * 2) Finney's father is very unlikable as he abuses his son and daughter. Even though he apologizes, victims of abuse can have a hard time forgiving him.
 * 3) It does have pacing issues, especially the first act.

Reception
The Black Phone received generally positive reviews from critics for its performances and faithfulness to the source material. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 84% of 159 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's consensus reads, "The Black Phone might have been even more frightening, but it remains an entertaining, well-acted adaptation of scarily good source material.". Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak gave the film an overall positive score of 88%, with 67% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Trivia

 * Ethan Hawke said he was initially hesitant on playing the villain because he did not want to be remembered for a "scary" performance for the rest of his career, but changed his mind after realizing he was in his 50s. "Villains might be my future", he added.