25 years into Ethan Hawke's career, I would say he has finally found his role - playing creepy weirdos. Early on, he was a terrible actor, with poor depth, yet attempted challenging roles (Hamlet). However, he has aged well and is now able to hit that creepy older man role well.
With that said, I wish he was not in this movie. While he is fine in it, he takes some of the oxygen from the younger cast.
With that said, Black Phone is a refreshing, simple story told well that finds a great balance between style, horror and story. A hard thing to do in Hollywood these days!
The story takes place in the late 70s and involves a small community (which one doesn't!) dealing with missing children.
We are introduced to Finney (Mason Thames) and his sister Gwen (Madeline McGraw) who has some vague powers related to her dreams. One of the criticisms is that these powers are not explored or explained in any real way. (This is a balance because this does help to streamline the story. )
Ultimately, Finney is kidnapped and must use a mysterious Black Phone to see if he can escape.
As mentioned, the feel of the movie is great. We get that sense of dread and there is a fair build up that makes us care about the characters.
The movie is light on explanation, which works well here. This isn't a film that explores motivations or explanations.
Ultimately, the themes are more to do with family and friendship than horror.
Overall, while there could be a bit more depth to explain, the story is tight and gripping. The cast does a good job, and we get a very strong thriller that tackles familiar territory in a fresh way.
8/10.
With that said, I wish he was not in this movie. While he is fine in it, he takes some of the oxygen from the younger cast.
With that said, Black Phone is a refreshing, simple story told well that finds a great balance between style, horror and story. A hard thing to do in Hollywood these days!
The story takes place in the late 70s and involves a small community (which one doesn't!) dealing with missing children.
We are introduced to Finney (Mason Thames) and his sister Gwen (Madeline McGraw) who has some vague powers related to her dreams. One of the criticisms is that these powers are not explored or explained in any real way. (This is a balance because this does help to streamline the story. )
Ultimately, Finney is kidnapped and must use a mysterious Black Phone to see if he can escape.
As mentioned, the feel of the movie is great. We get that sense of dread and there is a fair build up that makes us care about the characters.
The movie is light on explanation, which works well here. This isn't a film that explores motivations or explanations.
Ultimately, the themes are more to do with family and friendship than horror.
Overall, while there could be a bit more depth to explain, the story is tight and gripping. The cast does a good job, and we get a very strong thriller that tackles familiar territory in a fresh way.
8/10.