--- title: "Black Phone 2: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/black-phone-2/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/black-phone-2" critics_score: 67 critics_reviews: 19 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Black Phone 2 (2025): what the critics said Critics' score 67 from 19 reviews: 13 positive, 3 mixed, 3 negative. Most critics like Black Phone 2, though the spread is wide. The praise clusters on the dream sequences, with reviewers repeatedly noting the grainy 8mm footage, the frostbitten dream logic and the wintry camp setting, and on the young cast: Thames and McGraw are singled out often, as is Ethan Hawke’s voice work as the Grabber. Several reviews call it better and stranger than the original, and the shift in focus to Gwen is generally welcomed. The reservations cluster on the plotting: convoluted supernatural rules, exposition dumps in the second half, and a moralising Christian streak that some find pious. A minority say that leaving the basement lets out the tension the first film had. The dissent is sharp rather than mild: the Los Angeles Times calls it dreadfully boring, and the Guardian finds the Grabber reduced to a low-rent Freddy Krueger who no longer scares. The Nightmare on Elm Street comparison turns up in almost every review, approvingly and otherwise. ## Little White Lies — Anton Bitel Rating 3/4/3. 15 October 2025. The critic sees it as a classic slasher sequel with the Grabber resurrected, comparing it to Nightmare on Elm Street 3 on ice; praises the visual coding of dream and real worlds but complains it's too nice and sermonising with Christian themes. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-black-phone-2) ## Radio Times — Jeremy Aspinall Rating 4/5. 17 October 2025. Gripping sequel embraces the paranormal and gruesomeness; singles out the performances of Thames and McGraw and unsettling dream sequences. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/black-phone-2-review/) ## Slant Magazine Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 22 September 2025. Festival review. The film offers an eerie, tactile plunge into dreamscapes that collapses dreams, reality, past, and present, expanding the mythos with frostbitten dream logic and 8mm footage. It finds faith in the young protagonists' resilience amid its Christian bent and supernatural elements. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/black-phone-2-review-ethan-hawke-scott-derrickson/) ## Variety — Peter Debruge Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 8 October 2025. The critic praises the artful sequel for its evocative analog texture, hypnotic electronic score, and ability to keep scares coming in a cross between a ghost movie and A Nightmare on Elm Street. It succeeds by devising a formula where ghosts and serial killers both come calling, with strong direction and design choices. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2025/film/reviews/the-black-phone-2-review-1236543100/) ## The AV Club — Tomris Laffly Rating B. 16 October 2025. The sequel successfully throws back to 1980s slashers like Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street while delivering graphic horror and throwback atmosphere beyond mere nostalgia. It belongs to the young cast and their resilience amid upsetting visuals and dream logic. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/black-phone-2-review) ## The New York Times — Brandon Yu Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 16 October 2025. The critic finds the sequel creates a more cohesive picture than the original while deploying a new bag of scary tricks. It ties together disparate strands from the first film through the Grabber's return and new supernatural elements involving dreams and family trauma. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/movies/black-phone-2-review.html) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 17 October 2025. The film earns credit for daring to be different and weirder than the original, liberating itself into unsettling dream sequences and stylization like a poisoned tone poem. It improves on the first by making Gwen the more compelling character. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-black-phone-2-is-a-lot-weirder-than-the-first-one.html) ## IndieWire — Katie Rife Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 21 September 2025. Festival review. The film delivers a grisly sequel indebted to Nightmare on Elm Street, with Ethan Hawke channeling Freddy Krueger in a bloody, genre-hitting horror outing. It plays the hits effectively in its festival context. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/the-black-phone-2-horror-movie-review-1235152348/) ## Time Out — Olly Richards Rating 3/5. 15 October 2025. Sequel lets events out of the basement, releasing tension and exposing thin conceit; still has chills but less sharp than original. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-black-phone-2-review-2025) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 16 October 2025. Rote horror sequel retreading familiar ground with diminishing returns; superficial creepy fun but not as effective. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/black-phone-2-review-ethan-hawke-returns-in-scott-derricksons-rote-horror-sequel/5209987.article) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 16 October 2025. The critic finds the horror sequel disappointing and unconvincing as a franchise starter, with the Grabber reduced to a joke-free, low-rent Freddy Krueger trapped by convoluted supernatural rules that fail to generate scares. Hawke's presence and the mask are noted positively amid mostly ineffective, self-aware set pieces and unnecessary complications. [Read the review](https://theguardian.com/film/2025/oct/16/black-phone-2-review-horror-sequel-ethan-hawke) ## Los Angeles Times — Katie Walsh Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 16 October 2025. The critic calls the sequel dreadfully boring and a snooze, criticizing its monotonous, dour, and one-note narrative that borrows heavily from Nightmare on Elm Street while feeling oddly pious. Action-heavy dream sequences fail to compensate for standing-around speeches about trauma and backstories. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-10-16/black-phone-2-review-scott-derrickson-ethan-hawke-mason-thames-madeleine-mcgraw) ## Empire — Helen O’Hara 17 October 2025. The sequel commendably tries to do something different with its tone and approach by focusing on lingering trauma, but it isn’t nearly as terrifying as the first film. The performances are committed and the new focus on Gwen works in places, but the result is interesting without being quite compelling. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/black-phone-2/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Frank Scheck 16 October 2025. The sequel is an ambitious and mostly successful follow-up that leans into its convoluted plot with genuine emotion and religious themes. It excels thanks to Ethan Hawke's chilling voice performance as the Grabber and strong work from the young leads. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/black-phone-2-review-ethan-hawke-1236401733/) ## /Film — Rafael Motamayor Rating 9/10. 21 September 2025. Festival review. The critic calls it a fantastic sequel that explores new avenues and improves on the first film in nearly every way. They single out the shift in protagonist to Gwen, the grainy dream sequences with retro aesthetics, and the coherent return of the Grabber as a Freddy Krueger-like figure. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/1974280/black-phone-2-review/) ## Deadline — Pete Hammond Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 17 October 2025. The critic calls the sequel a compelling psychological horror picture that stands above most cash-in follow-ups thanks to its deliberate setup and atmospheric winter camp setting. They single out the returning young leads' performances and Ethan Hawke's creepy vocal turn as The Grabber for particular praise. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2025/10/black-phone-2-review-ethan-hawkes-the-grabber-is-back-and-theres-hell-to-pay-in-this-chiller-of-a-sequel-1236590409/) ## NME — Jordan Bassett Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 16 October 2025. This wildly imaginative sequel is better than the original, with lusher sets, gorier kills, and a nastier Grabber in a post-modern remix of genre classics. The mountain resort setting offers grand psychological horror, though the Grabber arrives late and the final act grows convoluted. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/black-phone-2-review-ethan-hawke-blumhouse-mason-thames-3897796) ## Collider — Jeff Ewing Rating 7/10. 7 October 2025. The critic finds it a mixed bag with excellent performances, especially Hawke as a scarier Grabber and strong direction, but criticizes clunky dialogue, heavy-handed themes, and slow pacing. [Read the review](https://collider.com/black-phone-2-review-ethan-hawke-grabber-scott-derrickson/) ## Den of Geek — Joe George Rating 3.5/5. 15 October 2025. The film is often moralizing but delivers its message with energy and skilled kills, making it effective horror cinema. It stumbles through narrative mechanics and lore but excels in staged attacks, dream sequences, performances (especially McGraw), and its wintry Christian camp setting. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/black-phone-2-review-slasher-kills-ethan-hawke/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 16 October 2025. The review finds the first hour terrifying and a strong horror sequel that deepens the heroes and makes the villain newly supernatural, but faults the second half for clunky exposition dumps and silly elements like magic ice skates. It singles out the well-written characters and ethereal dream sequences for praise in the strong opening section. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/the-black-phone-2-review/) ## Polygon — Tasha Robinson Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 23 September 2025. Festival review. The sequel is scarier and more ambitious but loses the original's focused intensity in favor of messy, overpacked supernatural effects and action, feeling like an indiscriminate buffet. [Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/black-phone-2-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/black-phone-2.md