Black Phone 2: A Worthy Successor Or A Horrific Sequel

Following the box office and critical success , did this horror sequel have a hope of living up to expectations?

Here at The Movie Reviews Nobody Asked For and Nobody Wants, we drop movies into one of three baskets:

Screen (worth the ticket price and best seen on the big screen),

Stream (good enough to wait and watch at home), or

Skip (don’t bother).

My opinion (which nobody asked for but you’re getting anyway): Fans of the first film and horror in general will find the theater experience satisfying. I did! There are small details you’ll miss on a TV screen, so Screen gets my vote. But if you can’t make it, Stream it when it hits home.

⚠️ Spoiler Warning

This review contains spoilers. If you’re spoiler-averse, check out my two-minute spoiler-free videos on TikTok or Instagram (@uninvited.reviewer). You’ve been warned.

The original Black Phone (2022) was a surprise hit, grossing almost $200 million worldwide — and a surprise favorite of mine, thanks to its blend of realism, horror, and those tense basement scenes between The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) and Finney (Mason Thames).

It’s also a favorite because I tricked my sister into seeing it, and her terrified reactions still make me laugh. Sorry, sis.

So, could lightning strike twice? With skepticism high and popcorn in hand, I bravely entered the theater ready for some scares.

The Pros, Cons, and Plot (a.k.a. “Wait, what’s happening now?”)

When Gwen (Madeleine McGraw, American Sniper, Ant-Man and The Wasp) starts having those bad dreams again, they lead her and Finney (Mason Thames, How To Train Your Dragon) to a kid’s camp — and right back into the clutches of The Grabber (Ethan Hawke).

The curse of sequels is the belief that “bigger = better.” But the real secret is to move the story forward without losing the characters we love.

For the most part, The Black Phone 2 gets this right. Gwen takes center stage as The Grabber’s next target, while Finney wrestles with the trauma of his basement nightmare. Their sibling dynamic is the emotional anchor here — McGraw and Thames deliver performances that outpace their ages and most of the adults in the film.

Once they’re at the camp (snowed in, of course, because heaven forbid anyone just… leaves), Gwen’s dreams worsen and sleepwalking becomes a major problem. That’s when The Grabber shows up in full ghost form, speaking to Finney through an out-of-service payphone — because even in the afterlife, this guy can’t resist a dramatic phone call.

Those two or three phone scenes between Finney and The Grabber prove that even after years apart, the actors’ chemistry is still electric. They ground the movie just as it starts getting a little too weird.

You following me so far? Good. Because now things get complicated.

The “Wait, What?” Section

Gwen’s dreams reveal that she and Finney’s late mother once worked with The Grabber at the same camp. Yep. Apparently, Mom was also haunted by the same kind of psychic visions as her daughter — which, okay, tracks with the first movie.

But when we learn that The Grabber killed their mom after she found his first victim decades ago, things start feeling a little… contrived. Like, horror coincidence bingo-level contrived.

I can buy the psychic connection. I can even buy Mom’s ghost helping them finish the job. But having her know and be murdered by the same guy who later kidnapped her son? That’s less “haunting twist” and more “writer’s room panic attack.”

Then there’s the explanation for why The Grabber’s ghost is back: his first three victims were never found, and apparently that gives him a hall pass from hell. (Hell, by the way, is described in one of the film’s best scenes — a truly chilling monologue from Ethan Hawke.)

Speaking of Hawke: as the Ghost Grabber, he’s absolutely petrifying. The script doesn’t quite give him enough to do (revenge plots are so 2010s), but he still manages to terrify with a tilt of his head or the way he breathes into the phone. The chemistry between Hawke, McGraw, and Thames saves the film from collapsing under the weight of its overcomplicated backstory.

The Final Act

Gwen finally embraces her power and absolutely wrecks The Grabber — fists, ghosts, and all. The other spirits happily drag him back to where he belongs, and for once, justice feels satisfying.

Just as Finney and Gwen are leaving the camp, the black phone rings again. This time, Gwen answers. It’s their mom, calling from… you know where (heaven, not Verizon). She tells her kids she loves them, that she’s proud of them, and that their visions aren’t curses but gifts.

It’s a surprisingly calm and heartfelt ending for a movie that spent two hours throwing ghost punches and trauma flashbacks at us — and somehow, it works.

Final Thoughts / Things to Know Before You Go

• This one’s way gorier than the first. Bring popcorn, not a weak stomach.

• The side characters are surprisingly great — especially the “Christian couple” whose morals are… let’s say, flexible.

• Gwen’s creative insults deserve their own spin-off. I wrote some down for future use.

Overall, I enjoyed The Black Phone 2. It’s not as clever as the original, but it avoids most sequel pitfalls by keeping its focus on character and emotion instead of spectacle.

This has been The Movie Review Nobody Asked For and Nobody Wants. If you’ve made it this far, I salute you. And my brother owes me ten bucks.