The Black Phone

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2:19

The Black Phone

R

Released Jun 24, 2022

1h 42m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

81%

Tomatometer

268 Reviews

88%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Verified Ratings

Finney, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer's previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to Finney.

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Critics Consensus

The Black Phone might have been even more frightening, but it remains an entertaining, well-acted adaptation of scarily good source material.

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Audience Says

With a terrific villain and a twisty story stacked with edge-of-your-seat thrills, The Black Phone is a must-watch for fans of suspenseful horror.

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Mark Kermode

Kermode and Mayo's Take (YouTube)

It's not groundbreaking, but it's very well done.

Jan 18, 2024

Full Review

Richard Roeper

Chicago Sun-Times

Ethan Hawke continues his spectacular mid-career run in a rare villainous role.

Jan 3, 2023

Full Review

David Stratton

The Australian

The young actors rise above their material, but Hawke is wasted as the killer.

Rated: 2.5/5

Jul 30, 2022

Full Review

William Stottor

Flick Feast

The Black Phone might not be consistently terrifying, but it has its moments. Ultimately, it is let down by an undercooked, patchy script and odd stylistic and editing choices that remove well-built tension.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 3, 2024

Full Review

Denise Pieniazek

Puesta en Escena (AR)

In The Black Telephone some of the director's stylems are observed, such as the prominence of children/adolescents in the action, perverse villains who hide their faces behind peculiar masks, and the presence of pagan or religious elements.

Rated: 7.5/10

Aug 21, 2024

Full Review

James Preston Poole

Discussing Film

The Black Phone isn’t just the best film Scott Derrickson has made thus far… it’s a larger testament to the kind of humanity and imagination that can come out of modern horror.

Rated: 4.5/5

Jul 23, 2024

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W R A

So much more could have been done with this as a realistic true crime story. The only "Horror" element to this was the ghosts of his victims. WAY too much coincidental happenstance stuff written into this screenplay to make the story work. You really have do a lot of mental gymnastics to believe any of it works at face value outside of the supernatural elements. Ethan Hawke delivers a great performance here and thats about it.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/29/24

Full Review

Damion

On edge the whole time, hoping for a part 2

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/07/24

Full Review

Brandon Richardson

This movie is a terrifying and well-crafted experience. It’s filled with incredible performances and great cinematography. Even though it isn’t the most serious of films, it brings light to an imperative and often hard-to-discuss topic. The writers did a great job translating this to the screen and turning a short story into a feature-length film. While the new content doesn’t entirely complete the story, it adds more structure and gives the characters more depth. The Black Phone is a faithful adaptation that is absolutely worth a watch.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

Galen M

This one pleasantly surprised me. Ethan Hawke was brilliantly creepy, the kids were portrayed as kids, not adults. There was violence when violence was warranted and no punches were pulled. And the cinematographry was elegant and disturbing, just like it needed to be.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

Tejpal P

Creepy and Good, Worth a Watch

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/13/22

Full Review

Nick E

A suspenseful thriller with a surprise amount of hopefulness.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/03/22

Full Review

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Scott Derrickson

Director

Ethan Hawke

The Grabber

Mason Thames

Finney

Madeleine McGraw

Gwen

Jeremy Davies

Terrence

James Ransone

Max

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The Black Phone: Official Clip - You Don't Have Much Time

2:03

The Black Phone: Official Clip - Finney Escapes

3:50

The Black Phone: Official Title - Fighting the Grabber

3:05

The Black Phone: Official Clip - Do Not Go Upstairs

2:12

The Black Phone: Official Clip - I Just Wanted to Look at You

1:50

The Black Phone: Official Clip - Fighting in the Street

1:02

The Black Phone: Official Clip - Climbing the Wire

2:36

The Black Phone: Official Clip - The Grabber

3:23

The Black Phone: Official Clip - Max Figures It Out

3:10

The Black Phone: Official Clip - Moron Max

2:04

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The Black Phone: Featurette - A Look Inside

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The Black Phone: Trailer 2

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The Black Phone: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Finney, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer's previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to Finney.

Director: Scott Derrickson
Producer: Jason Blum, Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill
Screenwriter: Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Blumhouse Productions, Crooked Highway
Rating: R (Language|Bloody Images|Some Drug Use|Violence)
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 24, 2022, Wide
Box Office (Gross USA): $89.9M
Runtime: 1h 42m
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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