#mason thomas

Kansas City Chiefs 2026 Draft Class

⚠️SPOILER-Y REVIEW

Part horror movie and part coming of age film, THE BLACK PHONE is a pretty good suspenseful little flick.

The story centers around Finn (or Finney), played by MASON THAMES, a young boy who gets kidnapped by "The Grabber" (ETHAN HAWKE), a serial child murderer preying on their town in the 1970s. Locked in a basement with a bed, a toilet, and a black rotary phone hanging on the wall, Finn starts getting calls from the Grabber's previous victims giving him tips on how to avoid the fate they all suffered.

One of the best parts of the movie are the performances. Hawke plays the Grabber in a fantastically chilling manner. He appears throughout the film in various masks, always keeping at least one part of his face covered. His actions are as unpredictable as his masks, which keeps Finn and the audience on edge.

Mason Thames is a strong lead as the shy and bullied Finn. MADELEINE MCGRAW steals every scene she's in as Finn's spunky little sister Gwen, who has prophetic dreams leading her to where her brother is being kept. She believes these dreams are being sent to her from God, and it's revealed their late mother had the same "gifts".

Which does bring up the subject of authorship. JOE HILL wrote the short story on which this film is based, and the eagle-eyed among you will recognize the name of STEPHEN KING'S son. Hill definitely inherited at least some of his father's common writing tropes. If you've read King's works or seen the movies based on them, this one will feel familiar.

But it's a great story, and a lot of fun. It's scary without too many jump scares - I can think of maybe one off the top of my head. The film relies heavily on Hawke's performance and the suspense building to a final fantastic showdown between Finn and the Grabber. If you haven't checked it out yet I recommend it!

8/10