“The Black Phone” Movie Review by Rafy Mediavilla (@Rmediavilla). #TheBlackPhone
After being abducted by a child killer and locked in a soundproof basement, a 13-year-old boy starts receiving calls on a disconnected phone from the killer’s previous victims. With “The Black Phone” we see writer-director Scott Derrickson team up with actor Ethan Hawke for another thrilling scary joyride.
The premises with The Black Phone is simple, and the execution is even more simple but works. The story is not mean to be over analyze. The story was it was present is meant to be enough as a +90-minute psychological thriller, where you are kept at the edge of your seat wanting to know how it will end. The jump scares are there but they are not at the for front of the story.
This movie is not perfect by any means, but that something which is there by design. The story is not what shines, what truly shines here is the performances, and not even by Ethan Hawke himself but by the cast of young actors. There are many sub themes in the story that are underdeveloped, but the performances are so good that we can see past by them.
Hawke was good, to the point he was scary good as the would-be killer. While his character was hiding behind a scary mask most of the time, you can clearly see he did his homework for this role. Now, young actors Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw are who truly shine. While Mason was great as the movie focus on Finney trying to get away and be the lone survivor of the scary killings by this mask man, with the help of the ghost from his past killing without giving to much away. Madelaine was superb was her really tough and grounded sister.
The main issue with the development of the story is that both of the main character had so much to offer that were so underdeveloped that you find yourself wanting to see more once the movie ends. For example, Gwen mother is mention many times during the story but we never get a back story of why Gwen is how she is. And while the whole bullying factor is very present it really doesn’t play a defining role till the very last act
Ultimately “The Black Phone” is a good scary movie, and good old time at the theaters. It works as intended, with great performances all around, even when you are left wanting to see more.
