The Black Phone: Not your average mystery movie; Different and Enjoyable

A horror film directed by Scott Derrickson about a Boy who gets kidnapped and has to escape

THIS REVIEW HAS SPOILERS LEAVE OR BE SPOILED

The Black Phone, directed by Scott Derrickson, is a movie about a boy, Finney (played by Mason Thames), who is kidnapped by The Grabber (played by Ethan Hawke). Finney tries to escape the basement while a black phone calls him. I watched this movie expecting this movie to be great. It was, and this movie did not disappoint me. The film had some excellent Drama, mystery movies, and some bits of horror sprinkled into it, it was also suspenseful, and I would always be wondering if the Grabber would kill Finnely out of nowhere. The acting from all the actors was terrific, especially Mason Thames as Finney and Ethan Hawke as The Grabber. The cinematography was good, and the unique part was each time Gwen (played by Madeleine McGraw) dreamed, the camera quality would turn grainy, and the footage would speed up, which was a nice touch. My favorite scene in the movie was when Robin (played by Miguel Cazarez Mora), as a ghost, told Finney how to fight. That scene was like an empowering moment, showing Finney that he shouldn't be afraid anymore and that he has to fight. This scene was maybe like a metaphor for growing up or breaking out of your comfort zone and having to do things you don't like to win. Another of my favorite parts of the movies was when each kid was mentioned before they died. They said something like Bruce (played by Tristan Pravong) said, "your arm is mint," when he was talking to Finney after the baseball game, and then when Finney was strangling The Grabber, you can hear the spirits of the dead children that The Grabber killed, and you hear Bruce say Finney's arm is mint! I thought the foreshadowing was pretty good. This movie was excellent, but the pacing sometimes felt like it was going too slow. I think the run time should be 1 hour and 35 minutes, but other than that, I think the movie was nicely executed and was fantastic. I will rate The Black Phone a 9/10, and I hope you watch the film because it is worth the watch.