Joe Hill’s Black Phone short story was just one among many mighty works in his Short story collection, 20th Century Ghosts, but wow did it leave an impression.
First reading this short story, it leaves you with questions, well, more of a curiosity about the dynamics of this town and the people in it. Enter Scott Derrickson with The Black Phone movie, not only giving us answers but also leaving us with a throbbing ache for more. What once endeared us to the characters we were briefly able to meet on the page came to scream in full color and with a huge personality to boot.
A moment of overshare, but Gwen, the sister of the main character, who the grabber kidnaps, is everything I want to be. Sassy, no-nonsense, always advocating for herself and those she loves, and even taking her own personal abuse in stride and finding a way to protect herself. She’s a dream that every girl who has gone through trauma wishes to be. While in the short story, we don’t get to know her as well as we do in the movie, she still makes a lasting impression even there.
Her quotable lines give her brother, Finney, a fighting chance as she calls these adults out on their many inadequacies and ultimately helps her brother, along with some ghostly help, to survive. And there the movie ends. Yet we love these characters. We miss them. Sure, we hope they never experience trauma again, but just like most trauma survivors we all know it comes around again.
When I heard there was going to be a Black Phone 2, I was excited but a bit perplexed. Hadn’t we wrapped this story up? Isn’t the grabber dead? But it was Joe Hill and Scott Derrickson, and Maggie Levin who were involved. In them I trusted.
I’m so glad I did. It was worth it. Not only was the story everything I didn’t know I needed and very reminiscent of the moments of classics like Nightmare on Elm St., it elevated horror but discussing the realities of trauma.
As a victim of a similar super villian as a kid, I too was plagued by sleepwalking and nightmares. Things that are mostly forgtten and not discussed in film well. While these are not supernatural in natrue in real life… allegedly. They are something that victims experiecne. They don’t walk off into the sunset and are free and clear as the credits roll. There’s other chapters to trauma.
I think that’s why I love Black Phone 2 so much. It sees me. It sees trauma, and young trauma in a very real way, despite the fact that most of us never fight a supernatural entitiy in our dreams, it feels that way. And its a thing that can cause shame and pain and trickle into every aspect of your life. I absolutely loved the vulnerabulty and perspective that were explored in this film. Including healthy relationships and that someone will be that person for you, even if you are so called damaged goods.
I guess what I’m saying is that I want more horror thats grounded in the actualities of existence and trauma. But I am super proud to see that its happening on screen and hope it continues forever. Hugs and stay away from grabbers.