The Black Phone is A24’s latest arthouse-horror hybrid, derived from the mind of Joe Hill. While the name might not instil instant recognition or excitement in the horror genre, this movie is based on his literary work - and it might excite people more to know he’s the son of Horror’s greatest: Stephen King. The film follows a young boy who is kidnapped by a serial child-killer and spends time in his basement, where he connects with the children who had come and gone before him. It’s a grim plot even for a horror film, so bear the content in mind before heading in to watch it.
The best parts of this movie come down to its technical aspects. Keeping with the reputation that A24 has built itself, the cinematography has the feel of an arthouse film while still managing to leave you in suspense and with a feeling of unease throughout its duration. This ties in heavily with how the film presents itself in the horror genre, choosing carefully crafted scenes to heighten tension for the audience. You see, another consistency that A24 has stayed true to is that The Black Phone does not rely on jump scares. For many (myself included) this will be a resounding relief. It means the movie needs to rely on genuine, authentic suspense-building techniques such as it’s cinematography to elicit fear and nerves in the crowd - and to its credit, The Black Phone does this well.
The Black Phone’s biggest drawback is that it’s trying to fit a short story into a feature length film. It must be the case that the film makers took absolutely no creative liberty with the story and kept the content entirely verbatim to its original source, meaning that they didn’t have much to work with from the start. I found the characters hard to connect with or invest in (and this is always a risk with child actors due to their inexperience), and overall very two-dimensional. As a disclaimer, I haven’t read the work that The Black Phone is based on, so I cannot attest to its quality or ability to induce fear or connect me with the characters. However being a short-story, it would require creative licence on the filmmakers part to keep the audience engaged for almost 2 hours. Strangely enough however, I also found lots of side-plots and throwaway lines (involving Gwen and her father) that could have led to much deeper, interesting tidbits, but in fact went nowhere or felt crammed-in towards the end. All of this meant that I was either slightly bored or confused throughout the films duration.
Still, I am not a huge horror fan at the best of times so take this opinion with a grain of salt. Fans of the genre will likely enjoy the fear and suspense that’s built throughout the film, and the theatrical performance by Ethan Hawke is something to witness for sure. If you have enjoyed A24’s films in the past then it’s probable that you’ll find some enjoyment out of The Black Phone also. At the very least, you’ll be hunched back in your seat in suspense.
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