Black Phone 2

When I heard that there was going to be a second “Black Phone” movie, I had to roll my eyes at the obvious cash grab. I thought, how fitting for a film where the main villain is called ‘The Grabber.’ Don’t get me wrong, I liked the first movie. But the bad guy dies. With The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) defeated, what more could there possibly be to the story? How would they even go about making this into a decent movie?

Surprisingly, I really liked “Black Phone 2.”

Overall, I enjoyed the movie for not making it so much about The Grabber, with his Freddy Krueger-like supernatural powers, but rather for focusing on the healing process of having survived such a traumatic event. The first time we saw the protagonist, Finney (Mason Thames), on screen is reminiscent of how we met Robin in the first movie. Finney is beating a kid bloody. He is redirecting all his fear into anger.

The storyline revolves around a community of kids banding together when the adults around them consistently fail to protect them. Even Max (James Ransone), the one adult working to find Finney was more focused on showcasing his detective skills than on helping. In the end, Finney survives The Grabber because of the other children who were victimized. It is the kids who do the heavy lifting to defeat The Grabber in both films.

The mechanics of the actual plot are a bit flimsy. Why would Gwen even be getting dreams of The Grabber’s previous victims? Or her mom leading her to a secluded snowed-in camp if she and Finney are currently safe and out of his range? The movie tries to lay some groundwork for it being tied to God, with Gwen’s dreams being gifts from something greater. However, it’s done pretty clumsily. Having the setting be a Christian camp isn’t enough to suddenly claim that those dreams Gwen is having are coming from God. God wants them to do the right thing—put themselves in active danger to set those other boys free and defeat The Grabber a second time. Okay, sure, Gwen’s stubbornness and dreams from God are what get our main cast to Alpine Lake.

How the three kids got there could have been handled a little better and, truthfully, the shaky attempts to make this somehow religious could also be left out, but nonetheless this movie pleasantly surprised me. I enjoyed the approach they took. At its core, this movie is about Gwen and Finney healing from the trauma of the previous movie. It’s about what comes after something truly terrible happens to you, how hard it is to have survived something like that. Plus, the movie had some great comedic moments. The scene where Ernesto is trying his absolute hardest to woo Gwen is awkwardly sweet and made better when Finney shouts from across the room, “Do you think I’m beautiful?” Everyone in the theater laughed.

Despite the awkward mechanics of the setup. It still has strong characters, with strong character arcs for Finney, Gwen, and even their dad. I can often overlook plot issues and flimsy world building if there are strong characters. And these two kids are strong characters.

Tethered to the bodies of his first kills and trapped in limbo, The Grabber can only harm in dreams. He can’t reach Finney in his dreams, but he can reach Gwen. Determined to make Finney pay for his current existence, and for the death of his brother, The Grabber is hellbent on killing Gwen. We get to see Finney and Gwen face their fears, which is really what The Grabber is in this movie. Just a manifestation of the fear and pain he caused by kidnapping Finney in the first movie.

To defeat The Grabber this time around, Gwen and Finney need to learn to trust themselves and their own strength. To rely on not just each other, but also other people. It helps that Ernesto, Armando, and Mustang believe them about The Grabber and are committed to showing up for Gwen and Finney. We even get to see how the dad has changed since we last saw him. We see how he’s grown to listen to his children, to value their voices and to trust them.

Though this movie was clearly a cash grab, but, at least to me, in the end it justified its existence. I find value in Finney and Gwen getting the chance to defeat The Grabber not just physically, but mentally and emotionally so they can both move on and live a life that’s not haunted by the ghost of The Grabber.