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The Black Phone
The Black Phone is a 2021 American horror film directed by Scott Derrickson from a screenplay he wrote with C. Robert Cargill, based on the 2004 short story by Joe Hill. It stars Mason Thames as Finney, a teenage boy abducted by a serial child killer known colloquially as the Grabber (Ethan Hawke). When Finney encounters a mystical black rotary phone in captivity, he uses it to plot his escape by communicating with the ghosts of the Grabber's slain victims. Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, and James Ransone also feature in the principal cast. Derrickson and Cargill produced The Black Phone in association with Blumhouse Productions CEO Jason Blum. Universal Pictures oversaw the film's commercial distribution, and funding was sourced through a pact with Blumhouse and tax subsidies from the North Carolina state government.
The idea of The Black Phone arose from Derrickson and Cargill's adaptation of the eponymous short story by Hill, found in 20th Century Ghosts. Derrickson struggled to produce additional ideas that supplemented the short story, shifting his attention to other filmmaking endeavors. The film remained dormant until he resigned from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) over creative differences. Derrickson used his childhood experiences in suburban Denver, Colorado, to develop The Black Phone story. Principal photography began in February 2021 on a $16–18 million budget, and wrapped the following month. Shooting took place on sets and on location in Wilmington, North Carolina. Mark Korven composed the film's score, which drew on modern and vintage synthesizer sounds.
The Black Phone premiered at Fantastic Fest on September 25, 2021, and opened in US theaters after several delays on June 24, 2022. It was a box office success, grossing $161.4 million globally. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its performances but were divided on its concept. The success of The Black Phone spawned the canonical short film "Dreamkill", also directed by Derrickson and written by him and Cargill, released in 2023 as part of the anthology film V/H/S/85. A sequel, Black Phone 2, was released on October 17, 2025.
In 1978, a local serial child abductor and murderer, known only as, "The Grabber," prowls the streets of a suburb in North Denver, Colorado. Finney Blake and his younger sister, Gwen, live in the area with their abusive, alcoholic father, Terrence, whose wife died by suicide after having a series of disturbing psychic dreams. Finney is frequently bullied and harassed at school, but his friend and classmate, Robin, fends off the bullies.
Having inherited her mother's ability, Gwen dreams about the Grabber's abduction of Bruce, a boy Finney knew from Little League. Police detectives, Wright and Miller, interview Gwen at school, believing she may know the Grabber. When Terrence learns about the questioning, he beats Gwen. Soon afterward, the Grabber abducts Robin and then Finney.
Finney awakens in a soundproofed basement with a disconnected black rotary dial telephone on one wall. It begins to ring on its own at times; Finney hears only static when he first answers it, but then hears Bruce's voice telling him about a floor tile he can remove to dig an escape tunnel. Finney starts to dig, but the house's foundations are too deep for him to go beneath them.
The Grabber brings Finney a meal and leaves the basement door unlocked. As Finney is about to sneak out, he gets a call from Billy, another past victim. Billy warns Finney that the Grabber is waiting at the top of the basement stairs to beat him with a belt until he passes out if he tries to leave, as part of a cruel game. At Billy's suggestion, Finney uses a hidden cable to climb up to the basement window; however, his weight pulls out the grate covering the pane, leaving him with no way to reach it again.
As Gwen confides to Terrence about her dreams of Finney's abduction, Wright and Miller question an eccentric man named Max, who stays in the area with his brother and has shown great interest in the Grabber's crimes. Unbeknownst to him, Finney is being held in Max's basement and the Grabber is actually his brother.
The Black Phone
The Black Phone is a 2021 American horror film directed by Scott Derrickson from a screenplay he wrote with C. Robert Cargill, based on the 2004 short story by Joe Hill. It stars Mason Thames as Finney, a teenage boy abducted by a serial child killer known colloquially as the Grabber (Ethan Hawke). When Finney encounters a mystical black rotary phone in captivity, he uses it to plot his escape by communicating with the ghosts of the Grabber's slain victims. Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, and James Ransone also feature in the principal cast. Derrickson and Cargill produced The Black Phone in association with Blumhouse Productions CEO Jason Blum. Universal Pictures oversaw the film's commercial distribution, and funding was sourced through a pact with Blumhouse and tax subsidies from the North Carolina state government.
The idea of The Black Phone arose from Derrickson and Cargill's adaptation of the eponymous short story by Hill, found in 20th Century Ghosts. Derrickson struggled to produce additional ideas that supplemented the short story, shifting his attention to other filmmaking endeavors. The film remained dormant until he resigned from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) over creative differences. Derrickson used his childhood experiences in suburban Denver, Colorado, to develop The Black Phone story. Principal photography began in February 2021 on a $16–18 million budget, and wrapped the following month. Shooting took place on sets and on location in Wilmington, North Carolina. Mark Korven composed the film's score, which drew on modern and vintage synthesizer sounds.
The Black Phone premiered at Fantastic Fest on September 25, 2021, and opened in US theaters after several delays on June 24, 2022. It was a box office success, grossing $161.4 million globally. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its performances but were divided on its concept. The success of The Black Phone spawned the canonical short film "Dreamkill", also directed by Derrickson and written by him and Cargill, released in 2023 as part of the anthology film V/H/S/85. A sequel, Black Phone 2, was released on October 17, 2025.
In 1978, a local serial child abductor and murderer, known only as, "The Grabber," prowls the streets of a suburb in North Denver, Colorado. Finney Blake and his younger sister, Gwen, live in the area with their abusive, alcoholic father, Terrence, whose wife died by suicide after having a series of disturbing psychic dreams. Finney is frequently bullied and harassed at school, but his friend and classmate, Robin, fends off the bullies.
Having inherited her mother's ability, Gwen dreams about the Grabber's abduction of Bruce, a boy Finney knew from Little League. Police detectives, Wright and Miller, interview Gwen at school, believing she may know the Grabber. When Terrence learns about the questioning, he beats Gwen. Soon afterward, the Grabber abducts Robin and then Finney.
Finney awakens in a soundproofed basement with a disconnected black rotary dial telephone on one wall. It begins to ring on its own at times; Finney hears only static when he first answers it, but then hears Bruce's voice telling him about a floor tile he can remove to dig an escape tunnel. Finney starts to dig, but the house's foundations are too deep for him to go beneath them.
The Grabber brings Finney a meal and leaves the basement door unlocked. As Finney is about to sneak out, he gets a call from Billy, another past victim. Billy warns Finney that the Grabber is waiting at the top of the basement stairs to beat him with a belt until he passes out if he tries to leave, as part of a cruel game. At Billy's suggestion, Finney uses a hidden cable to climb up to the basement window; however, his weight pulls out the grate covering the pane, leaving him with no way to reach it again.
As Gwen confides to Terrence about her dreams of Finney's abduction, Wright and Miller question an eccentric man named Max, who stays in the area with his brother and has shown great interest in the Grabber's crimes. Unbeknownst to him, Finney is being held in Max's basement and the Grabber is actually his brother.