Black Phone 2 (2025) Review: A Solid Sequel Living in the First Film’s Shadow

The phone rings. You don’t recognize the number. It’s 2 AM, the house is dark, and every horror instinct you own is screaming at you not to pick up.

You pick up anyway. Of course you do. That’s why we’re friends.

On the other end: silence. Then breathing. Then a voice you hoped you’d never hear again says, “Hello, Finney.”

Welcome back to the nightmare. The Grabber’s on the line, and this time he’s calling from somewhere even worse than a basement.

The Review

Let me be straight with you: Black Phone 2 is a good movie. Not a great one. A good one. The kind of movie you watch on a Friday night, enjoy thoroughly, and then spend the car ride home explaining to your friends why it wasn’t quite as good as the first one. And that’s fine! Not every sequel needs to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes the wheel just needs new tires and a fresh coat of dread.

Scott Derrickson is back directing, Joe Hill’s DNA is all over the script, and Ethan Hawke returns as the Grabber — a sentence I never thought I’d type, considering what happened to the man in the first film. The story picks up with Finney (Mason Thames) at 17, still carrying the scars of his kidnapping, while his sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) starts getting nightmarish calls of her own — visions of three boys being hunted at Alpine Lake, a snow-covered winter camp where something is very, very wrong.

Here’s what works: Hawke is genuinely terrifying again, and the movie is smart enough to know he’s the main event. Derrickson’s direction is atmospheric as ever — the winter camp setting is an inspired change of scenery from the first film’s suburban basement, all white snow and black trees and nowhere to run. And Madeleine McGraw, as Gwen, gets a much bigger role this time and absolutely runs with it. She’s the emotional engine of this movie.

Here’s what doesn’t: the Grabber’s return requires some narrative gymnastics that the movie never fully sticks. He’s dead. We watched him die. The film gestures at explanations — dreams, the supernatural bleeding through, trauma made manifest — but it never quite commits to one, and you can feel it hedging. The original worked because the threat was real: a man, a basement, a phone. This one wants the threat to be metaphysical, and it’s just… murkier.

It’s also long. At 114 minutes, there’s a solid 95-minute movie in here wearing a 114-minute coat. A tighter cut would’ve done wonders.

But here’s the thing — and I mean this as a compliment — it’s watchable. Every minute of it. Derrickson knows how to stage a scare, the cast is excellent, and there are two or three sequences (I won’t spoil them) that are as good as anything in the original. It just can’t escape the shadow of a first film that felt like lightning in a bottle.

Harper’s verdict: A worthy sequel that doesn’t embarrass the original but doesn’t surpass it either. See it for Hawke, stay for Gwen, forgive the mythology hand-waving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Black Phone 2 (2025) scary?

Yes — Ethan Hawke’s Grabber is genuinely terrifying again, with some properly nasty set pieces. The scares serve the story rather than overwhelming it, which makes them land harder.

Who directed Black Phone 2 (2025)?

Scott Derrickson returned to direct, with Joe Hill’s DNA all over the script — the same team behind the 2021 original.

Do I need to watch the first Black Phone before Black Phone 2?

Yes — the sequel builds directly on the original’s story and characters, so watch the 2021 film first for the full emotional payoff.

Is Black Phone 2 (2025) worth watching?

If you liked the original, yes — it’s a solid, watchable sequel that doesn’t embarrass its predecessor, even if it doesn’t surpass it.

Harper’s Extras

Holy crap, I didn’t know that:

• The film’s score was composed by Atticus Derrickson — the director’s son. Keeping it in the family.
• The soundtrack features “Subways of Your Mind” by FEX — the famous “lostwave” song that the internet spent years trying to identify — alongside Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.” The music supervision deserves its own round of applause.
• The Los Angeles Times noted something fascinating: the sequel is “surprisingly pious and deeply Christian,” which makes for an odd but interesting mix with the horror.
• The original Black Phone (2021) grossed $161.4 million on an $18 million budget. The sequel cost $30 million and pulled in $132.7 million worldwide — profitable, but the diminishing returns are real.
• The sequel premiered at Fantastic Fest in September 2025 before its October 17 theatrical release — the horror festival crowd got first dibs.
• Madeleine McGraw’s expanded role earned her Saturn and Astra Award nominations for Best Young Performer.

The real story: Both films are based on Joe Hill’s short story “The Black Phone” — and yes, Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son. The horror apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Go deeper: Ethan Hawke’s Grabber belongs in the pantheon of modern horror villains — browse our Horror Characters index for the icons who came before him. And our Horror Movies index has the entries on the films that defined the “killer with a gimmick” subgenre.

Watch it with: If you haven’t seen the original Black Phone (2021), watch that first — this sequel assumes you know the story. And if the “haunted phone” concept hooks you, Joe Hill’s original short story is a tight, nasty little read. Highly recommended.