• Reviews
    • Watch This
    • VODepths
  • Humor
  • On the Marquee
  • Looking Back
    • Classic Corner
    • Anniversary
  • Film Fests
Crooked Marquee
  • Reviews
    • Watch This
    • VODepths
  • Humor
  • On the Marquee
  • Looking Back
    • Classic Corner
    • Anniversary
  • Film Fests
Home
Reviews

Review: The Black Phone

Jun 23rd, 2022 Abby Olcese
Review: The Black Phone

It’s hard to watch The Black Phone without thinking of the oft-repeated Neil Gaiman quote, “Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” Most supernatural horror stories featuring child protagonists serve as a metaphor for surviving real-life threats, whether they come in the form of bullying, abuse, assault or violence.

Scott Derrickson’s adaptation of Joe Hill’s short story has powerful potential in this regard. That potential is strengthened by Derrickson and his writing partner C. Robert Cargill drawing from Derrickson’s own troubled childhood to personalize the story; the film is set in Derrickson’s childhood North Denver neighborhood in the late ‘70s, with specific elements that, according to interviews, echo the director’s violent upbringing. Frustratingly, potential is all Derrickson’s movie has, as it’s stymied by poor scripting and awkward execution.

The Black Phone follows middle schooler Finney (Mason Thames) as he tries to survive The Grabber (Ethan Hawke), a pedophilic serial killer. Even before his abduction, Finney’s life is rough. He and his sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) suffer regular beatings from their volatile alcoholic dad (Jeremy Davies). Finney gets bullied at school, and his friends keep becoming “missing child” notices stapled to neighborhood telephone poles.

When Finney becomes The Grabber’s next target, he discovers a few advantages that improve his odds of escaping the killer’s soundproof basement. One is Gwen, who has visions that help her identify The Grabber’s hideout. Another is the disconnected black phone of the title, through which the unquiet spirits of The Grabber’s past victims speak to him. Finney’s biggest resource, however, is his own natural resilience.

The Black Phone has strong thematic resonance (not to mention unfortunate relevance) as a story about a kid enduring unthinkable trauma, and the hidden reserves of emotional strength that make such endurance possible. However, the movie’s mechanics are so strangely assembled that they undermine the entire enterprise; it’s more likely to leave audiences howling about what it does wrong rather than connecting with what it gets right. 

Derrickson and Cargill do some admirable worldbuilding early on, but it’s hobbled by the movie’s uneven ensemble. Outside Thames, Hawke and Davies, the movie’s supporting performances range from school-play stilted to outright bizarre. The blame for some of this lies with the dialogue which, when not belonging to the main characters, verges on robotic. The storytelling logic also breaks down at points, as in the moments (plural!) where The Grabber leaves Finney with potential weapons that the kid, unbelievably, never thinks to use.

As The Grabber, Hawke exudes credible menace. This is a real feat, since he’s doing most of his acting behind a creepy mask. However, he’s far from the John Wayne Gacy-esque character Hill created. It’s good for artists to freely adapt their source material, but in this case it requires a lot of extra, evident effort to make Hawke a worthy boogeyman. It’s not an inspired casting choice as much as it’s a weird one. Even James Ransone, who pops up here as a cokehead conspiracy theorist, is more appropriately squirrely.   

The Black Phone draws from a tradition of great horror storytelling about the actual horrors of childhood. Stephen King—Hill’s father and the current reigning champ of that subgenre—even described Derrickson’s movie as “Stand By Me in Hell.” That intention is certainly present in Derrickson’s film, but King’s comment also points out what keeps The Black Phone from hitting the way it could. Stand By Me’s performances and script feel lived-in and rich without giving much exposition. It’s effortless. The Black Phone is all visible effort, and the results aren’t up to that established standard.

C-

“The Black Phone” is in theaters Friday.

  • Tags
  • movie review
Facebook Twitter Google+
Abby Olcese

Abby Olcese

Abby Olcese is a film critic and pop culture writer. In addition to writing for Crooked Marquee, she is also the film editor at The Pitch magazine. Her work has appeared in Sojourners Magazine, Birth. Movies. Death., SlashFilm and more. She lives in Kansas City.

Related Posts
Review: <i>Emily the Criminal</i>
Jason Bailey

Review: Emily the Criminal

Aug 11th, 2022
Review: <i>Summering</i>
Kimber Myers

Review: Summering

Aug 11th, 2022
Review: <i>Prey</i>
Abby Olcese

Review: Prey

Aug 4th, 2022
Trending
Aug 27th 11:00 AM
Looking Back

Classic Corner: The Ranown Westerns

Jan 18th 8:09 AM
Looking Back

“To Be Deceived is a Woman’s Crime”: A Look Back at the Female Prisoner Scorpion Series

Jan 20th 8:00 AM
Movies

Thoughts on a Biden-Era Cinema

Mar 30th 9:00 AM
Reviews

Review: Godzilla vs. Kong

Oct 21st 9:00 AM
Reviews

Review: The French Dispatch

Oct 25th 9:00 AM
Movies

The Horror of Take Shelter

Oct 27th 9:00 AM
Looking Back

The Catholic Fairytale Vampire of Guillermo del Toro’s Cronos

Nov 1st 9:00 AM
Movies

The Last Word: The Feminine Perspective of The Last Duel

Nov 3rd 9:00 AM
Looking Back

A Very Harvey’s Hellhole Thanksgiving

Nov 4th 9:00 AM
Reviews

Review: Finch

blank
cmpopcorn_white3.svg
  • Company
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Writers Guidelines
  • Members
    • Login
    • SignUp
    • Forums
telephone icon [email protected]
envelope icon [email protected]
© 2014-2022 Crooked™ Publishing
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
blankblank
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}