“The Black Phone”

“The Black Phone”

Director: Scott Derrickson

Cast: Mason Thames, Ethan Hawke

Directed by Scott Derrickson, "The Black Phone" is an adaptation of author Joe Hill's novel "The Black Phone" and is set in 1978 and stars a serial killer known as The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) who has been prowling the streets of a Denver suburb abducting kids.

Finney (Mason Thames) and his sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) live in the suburbs with their alcoholic father Terence (Jeremy Davis). Finney is bullied at school, but one day befriends another boy, Robin, who gets into a fight with a bully and is beaten, and Robin informs the bullies to leave Finney alone.

Gwen seems to have psychic dreams, we soon learn that her mother had them too, but this eventually drives her crazy, Gwen dreams of Bruce being kidnapped by another boy who is friends with Finney. She dreams of black balloons, when local detectives find out after learning about her dreams, they are curious because information about the balloons is never disclosed to the public. However they are skeptical of the claims of information coming from her dreams. There's a nice scene where they're talking to Gwen and she's really sarcastic with them.

A few days later, The Grabber kidnaps Rob and then Finney. Finney finds himself alone in a soundproof basement. A black rotary phone on the wall is the only connection to the outside world, but the grabber informs Finney that the phone is not working.

Finney then hears Black's phone ringing and he picks it up, he talks to Bruce's ghost, but Bruce doesn't remember his name or informs Finney about a floor tile he needs to avoid surviving. One can remove to dig a tunnel.  Then the phone rings regularly and Grabber's former victims offer advice to Finney to help him survive, escape, and try the things he can't accomplish. Robin who helps teach Phinney how to fight over the phone.

Throughout the rest of the film, Gwen's dreamy, investigative detective, Finney appears to be talking on the phone to ghosts, only for the audience to see, trying to help Finney and stop what happens to him.

There is a grim feeling throughout the film that not only brings you to that time period, but also tells the helplessness of the situation. Gwen is great as the younger sister who loves her brother and is eager to help him, as well as standing up bravely against her abusive father. Ethan Hawke is great as The Grabber, although he remains behind a mask for most of the film. Though the story is perhaps a bit sweet, it is well told and you feel a connection with the young characters, who want to survive. Overall the film is good and worth watching.