By Sophie Albertie
When is a sequel ever better than the first movie?
“Black Phone 2” released this weekend, serving as a continuation of the original 2022 release. The second film follows Finney Shaw, now 17, recovering from his terrifying captivity only years prior, which he survived from. Unfortunately, he proves not to be the only one struggling. When his sister begins getting strange unexplainable visions of a man in a mask known as The Grabber, it’s up to the dynamic pair to rid themselves of the curse of the Black Phone.
Sequels usually work whenever there is a noticeable difference between the two films or if the universe is expanded on in all the right ways. This movie is nearly a complete shift from the first world, fully emerging itself in the dreams and visions Finney’s younger sister, Gwen, keeps having, minus a few key details.
There were hints of Gwen’s psychic abilities in the first movie but they definitely feel more pronounced with this narrative. Unlike the final Conjuring, director Scott Derrickson makes sure to hint at a third installment by showing that the body of the spirit may be dead, but evil never really dies.
“Black Phone 2” proves to be slightly more developed and plot-filled than the original, but the audience should be satiated with the spooky. A third installment would just harp on old dead concepts that arguably should not have been explored at all past the first movie.
Ethan Hawke as The Grabber operates under one tone, treated as a cryptic figure rather than an actual physical evil, and gets boring pretty fast.
The writing isn’t great in either movie, which makes it difficult for the narrative to be compelling. The driving conflict is less psychological and more paranormal, which makes the franchise a good halloween selection, if nothing else.
Neither of the movies are great, but when it comes to choosing between visions of a snowy mountain camp or just staying in the basement Finney got kidnapped and brought to, the snowy mountain camp wins every time, for aesthetic purposes.
Black Phone 2 gets two and a half stars, the half coming from being a slight improvement from the first.
