Most horror sequels try to outdo the original with louder scares or gorier kills, but Black Phone 2 takes a different route. It isn’t just scary, it’s unsettling. Set four years after Finney’s escape from the Grabber, the film dives into the lasting trauma of survival and how some ghosts never really go away.

Now 17, Finney (Mason Thames) is trying to move on with his life, but his younger sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) begins to have terrifying visions again. Her psychic dreams lead her to Alpine Lake, a remote snow-covered camp that hides a dark connection to their family’s past. When she starts receiving calls from children pleading for help through that same mysterious black phone, the horror returns in a way that feels even more personal. 

Director Scott Derrickson, who made the first film such a standout, leans deeper into the atmosphere this time. The movie’s cold, grainy visuals make it look like a lost nightmare from the ‘80s, and the muffled, echoing sound design keeps you tense even when nothing’s happening on the screen. One sequence, where Gwen answers the ringing phone only to hear her dead mother’s voice on the other end, is one of the most haunting moments throughout the movie.

The performances make the fear feel real. McGraw shines as Gwen, showing both strength and vulnerability as she faces the same darkness that once nearly took her brother. Mason Thames gives a quiet, emotional performance as Finney, still haunted by what he endured. And while Ethan Hawke’s Grabber appears less this time, his presence still looms over every scene, a reminder that his evilness still lingers.

If there’s one flaw, it’s that the story tries to explain too much about the supernatural elements that made the first movie so mysterious. The mythology surrounding the phone and the afterlife connections gets a bit tangled near the end. But even then, the emotional weight and eerie tension keep the film gripping. 

By the time the screen fades to black, you’re left with a chill that doesn’t fade when you walk out of the theater. As the lights turn on in uneasy silence, you can’t help but feel that somewhere in the dark, that black phone is still ringing.