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The Grabber has officially arrived on Netflix. Scott Derrickson’s standout 2021 supernatural horror film The Black Phone, starring Ethan Hawke as the modern horror icon, joined Netflix’s streaming lineup on February 12th. The movie centers around a 13-year-old boy abducted by a masked child killer who discovers a mysterious disconnected black phone in the basement where he is held captive that allows the murderer’s previous victims to guide him to escape. Unfortunately for fans, The Black Phone’s sequel, Black Phone 2, didn’t follow the original onto Netflix and is currently only available to stream on Peacock.
The Black Phone Is an Intense Supernatural Horror-Thriller Worthy of a Franchise
There’s no doubt that The Black Phone is one of the best horror movies to come out of the last few years. The movie is a masterclass in atmospheric horror. Rather than relying on jump scares or gratuitous gore, Derrickson shifts the horror focus to psychological dread. The film builds a suffocating, gritty, and deeply unsettling environment that lingers even after the movie ends and feels both intimate and horrifyingly claustrophobic. It grounds that suspense in a gritty 1970s suburban setting and a character-driven narrative that carries actual emotional weight. The Black Phone also introduces one of the best modern villains in The Grabber, perfectly portrayed by Hawke and balanced by the emotional performances of Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw.
