Black Phone 2

Did The Black Phone (2021) really need a sequel? Probably not, but I enjoyed the snowy setting shown in the trailer and decided to give it a try anyway. I enjoyed the first movie and thought The Grabber was an interesting character, although I was not particularly interested in a sequel since there was no real need for one. However, I am genuinely surprised to say that I really enjoyed this follow-up.

We have returning characters and actors in their roles, which is always a plus, and they genuinely manage to expand the story in an interesting way rather than making a lazy rehash of the first movie. This film feels quite different, with a much darker atmosphere and some genuinely brutal scenes with great gore effects.

While the first movie was limited mostly to the basement and the recurring phone calls, this one has much more fun with its setting and some of the side characters. It makes The Grabber much more threatening and gives him a backstory, which many people criticized the first movie for lacking. There are also some revelations about the past that are not particularly surprising but still add well to the backstories of the characters.

The movie takes some inspiration from A Nightmare on Elm Street in its storytelling and definitely from Sinister in terms of cinematography and the use of VHS footage, which was also directed by Scott Derrickson. Overall, I had a really good time with this movie, and I really enjoyed the snowy setting and dark atmosphere it aims for.

The performances are strong all around, just like in the first film, and I am curious to see where Madeleine McGraw’s and Mason Thames’ careers will go in the next few years because both of them are really talented. Even though I was not particularly thrilled about their character development between the two movies, since Finn becomes your generic wannabe bad boy and Gwen constantly tells everyone how weird she is, both character arcs still make sense in a way, even if they did not entirely work for me.

Apart from that, this is a very neat sequel that expands the story and brings many new aspects to The Grabber’s overall narrative, and the filmmakers were actually able to make this an interesting sequel without giving it the feeling of being a lazy cash grab.