Director Scott Derrickson released a supernatural thriller called “The Black Phone” in 2021.

A child abductor and murderer named The Grabber stalks the streets of Denver suburbs in 1978. Finney and Gwen live in the town “The grabber” was going around. Finney often gets bullied and harassed at school, but one of his close friends Robin fights off the bullies to protect Finney. Soon, Finney found out that Bruce is taken by The Grabber from Gwen who had psychic dreams about the abduction. After Bruce was pronounced abducted, Robin was shortly taken and days later Finney was kidnapped. While Finney is in The Grabber’s basement he receives calls on the telephone from Bruce, Billy, Robin, and Vance. The calls were ways to help Finney escape the basement which he escapes and reunites with Gwen. 

The plot of “The Back Phone” revolves around The Grabber’s basement and the not working telephone. Another reason is Finney’s sister Gwen having dreams of all the boys who were taken. When Finney is taken to The Grabber’s basement, there is a wall with a disconnected black rotary phone. The phone starts to ring and Finney quickly answers it and realizes it’s Bruce. Finney keeps getting calls from all the boys who have been taken by the grabber giving Finney clues on how to get out. The dead boys tell Finney what to do such as digging up the floor, using the rope to get to the window, and digging out the wall to get to the freezer. As the boys were getting kidnapped, Gwen had dreams of all the boys. She saw how they got taken and where they were taken which led her to find Finney.

Each character plays a major role in their own way. The Grabber was played by Ethan Hawke and was given a certain personality such as psychotic and dangerous. Hawke has starred in many other movies and is very known as a celebrity but as he was portrayed in the black phone viewers didn’t know it was him. Finney and Gwen play the unstoppable sibling duo who do everything together and always have each other’s sides. Since Finney was kidnapped by the grabber, Gwen was able to find where he was located and help him escape the killer. 

The movie deserves a rating of 8/10. The movie is also recommended to viewers who enjoy paranormal horror films with a twist.