MovieChat Forums > The Black Phone (2022) Discussion > Not bad. Not great, but not bad

Not bad. Not great, but not bad

posted 2 years ago by DoctorThirteen (14199)
2 replies | jump to latest

Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. The trailer didn't set me on fire and the concept didn't really grab me - but friends decided they wanted to watch this for Halloween. The child actors were all good (especially Mason Thames as Finney, and Madeleine McGraw - who reminded me of Daphne Keen from Logan - as his sister, Gwen). Good performance from Ethan Hawke. Great performance from Jeremy Davies (who for me will always be Charles Manson!) as Finney and Gwen's father (my favourite scene was actually the shouting match between Gwen and her dad; heartbreaking - and superbly acted). As for the supernatural moments, they were okay, but felt a little forced. I love a good ghost story, but I honestly felt this would have worked better as a straight thriller, with Finney having to work things out for himself, rather than by getting phone calls from the dead. Apparently a sequel is in the works - not sure where they'd go with that. 7/10

[–] acidraindrop (3055) 2 years ago

The family interactions were so good in this movie, especially since it's not even a large part of the plot. They really did a good job in fleshing out these characters. One of my favorite moments is the closing scene, when the dad lays eyes on his son again. He apologies with heartfelt tears, but his kids just kinda stay silent. I thought it was a nice resolution of that story arc while also establishing that they're not suddenly okay with their abusive drunk of a father.

To be fair, the short story it was based on was primarily about the kidnapping, the ghosts, and the counter attack. Everything else here was fleshed out for the movie.

[–] smidget28 (803) 2 years ago

I actually really liked it. Why does it fall short in your opinion?