65
Metascore
38 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91IndieWireMarisa MirabalIndieWireMarisa MirabalThe Black Phone is a succinct and stressful terror blanketed with themes of friendship, family, and inventive portrayals of resiliency.
- 90IGNAmelia EmberwingIGNAmelia EmberwingThe Black Phone mixes the supernatural with relatable horrors in ways that will leave you both terrified and hopeful.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe story’s final third works even better than the buildup would suggest, shrugging off some of the atmospherics and, with a clever nod to a classic in the serial-killer genre, focusing all the movie’s energies on a sequence that delivers
- 80EmpireBen TravisEmpireBen TravisDespite its darker-than-dark premise — Abduction! Dead kids! Imprisonment! — The Black Phone finds hope in the midst of the horror. Looking for soulful scares this summer? Answer the call.
- 67The PlaylistJason BaileyThe PlaylistJason BaileyDerrickson can build a mood and craft creepy imagery, and he moves his camera with precision. But this feels like a notebook of compelling visual and narrative ideas that never quite fit together, that can’t quite manage to coalesce into coherence.
- 60VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanIt’s a horror ride that holds you, and it should have no trouble carving out an audience, but I didn’t find it particularly scary.
- 60TheWrapSimon AbramsTheWrapSimon AbramsDerrickson and Cargill successfully tailor their focused and mostly compelling narrative to a Steven Spielberg/Amblin Entertainment–esque bit of Stephen King–sploitation.
- 50The Film StageJohn FinkThe Film StageJohn FinkPerhaps The Black Phone should have pushed its premise a bit more, building real stakes and real thrills in a deeper analysis of its archetypes. If performances by Thames, McGraw, and Hawke are strong, there could stand to be a few more twists and a bit more character development to transcend what is a middle-of-the-road psychological thriller.
- 42The A.V. ClubTodd GilchristThe A.V. ClubTodd GilchristAnswer the call of The Black Phone if you dare. Just be aware that, much like the severed cord dangling underneath the device, there’s a crucial disconnect between the provocative ideas that it sets up, and what it ultimately delivers.