Credit: Netflix

Remember when Black Phone 2 first came out? The reaction was massive. It wasn’t there to be just another horror flick people forgot about a week later, but one that kept doing the rounds through word of mouth and, before you knew it, became one of the most critically acclaimed cult modern-day classics on Netflix.

The real ones still recommend it, and a lot of that came down to how effective it was. And, of course, Ethan Hawke as The Grabber was so creepy without even needing to shout about it. That mask alone did half the job.

Now, Black Phone 2 has finally been released on Netflix, and it’s getting another proper run with the watchers. It’s been a bit of a wait between films, but the same team is back: we have director Scott Derrickson and writer C. Robert Cargill, which usually means they know exactly what worked the first time and haven’t tried to reinvent it for the sake of it. So consistency is maintained. Netflix was bound to pick it up after the success of the first part, and that has only boosted its reach, so it’s finding a fresh crowd alongside those who have been waiting for a follow-up.

Story-wise, Black Phone 2 takes on from where things left off, focusing again on Finney Shaw, played by Mason Thames. He is older now, but not exactly over what happened. Fair enough, really, because being kidnapped and dealing with all that isn’t something you just shrug off. He is trying to get on with life, but there is still a sense that things aren’t fully on the mend.

Then you’ve got his sister, Gwen, played by Madeleine McGraw, who still has those upsetting dreams. In the first movie, they helped piece things together, and here they start pointing towards something new. That’s where the trouble begins again and shows that whatever was going on before hasn’t completely disappeared.

The phone and those voices from the first film? They are still part of the story. It’s not treated as a one-time thing that just ended. Finney and Gwen end up dealing with something linked to it again. Not exactly the same situation as before, but close enough to bring all that fear back. You can tell straight away that things aren’t fully sorted.

Now, about The Grabber. He is not always physically there, but he is still hanging over everything. What he did before hasn’t just been forgotten, and that carries through the film.

One thing you’ll probably notice is that this time, Black Phone is more into the supernatural side of things. The first film kept that part quite subtle with hints, but nothing too obvious. Here, it’s clearer. You see more of it, but they haven’t overdone it. It still sticks with the characters and what they are going through, rather than turning into something else entirely.

About the story, it comes from Joe Hill, Stephen King’s son, which explains why it’s got that kind of feel to it. And Ethan Hawke nearly didn’t take on the role of The Grabber at all. He wasn’t that keen on playing villains, but he went for it in the end, and it turned out to be one of the standout parts of the first film. And just to round it off, the first film wasn’t made on a huge budget, but it did really well when it came out. That’s the reason this sequel even exists.

So yeah, if you liked the first one, Black Phone 2 is something you cannot skip. And if you haven’t seen it yet, start there; you’ll get a lot more out of it that way.