Here’s a comprehensive look at Black Phone 2 — what’s
known so far about its story, cast, production, and what to expect
🎬 Basic Info & Release
Title: Black Phone 2 (also stylized The Black Phone 2)Genre: Supernatural horror Director / Writers / Producers:
• Directed by Scott Derrickson
• Screenplay by Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill \
• Produced by Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill, Jason Blum (Blumhouse), with Joe Hill as executive producer Premiere & Theatrical Release:
• World premiere: Fantastic Fest, September 20, 2025
Language: English
Rating / Content Warnings: The film is expected to carry an R rating for “strong violent content, gore, teen drug use, and language.Runtime: ~114 minutes (according to Chinese Wikipedia)
👥 Cast & Characters
Returning cast:
Mason Thames — Finney (also “Finn”) Blake
Madeleine McGraw — Gwen Blake (Finney’s younger sister) Ethan Hawke — The Grabber / Albert Shaw (antagonist)Jeremy Davies — Terrence Blake (the siblings’ father) Miguel Mora — returns in a different or supporting role (Ernesto Arellano)
New / additional cast:
Demián Bichir — joins the sequel in a new role
Arianna Rivas — cast in a new role (Mustang) Anna Lore, Maev Beaty, Graham Abbey — in supporting roles
📖 Plot & Themes
Premise / Story Setup
The film is set in 1982, a few years after the events of the first film.
Finney (now 17) is struggling with the aftermath of his kidnapping and the trauma it caused.
Gwen (now a teenager) begins having terrifying visions and dream calls from “the black phone,” which link to three boys being stalked at a winter camp called Alpine Lake.
The Grabber, despite being dead, returns in some supernatural form to threaten Finney and Gwen — vengeance from beyond the grave.
Gwen convinces Finney to visit the camp during a winter storm, where they discover a dark connection between The Grabber and their own family history.
Tone, Style & Comparisons
Reviewers note that Black Phone 2 leans more heavily into dream / nightmare horror — the lines between dreams and reality start to blur. Some comparisons have been made to A Nightmare on Elm Street (especially with how the villain can invade dreams
The sequel is said to expand the mythology: The Grabber’s powers are greater, more sinister, and the stakes are higher — it’s not just about physical horror, but psychological, supernatural torment. Visually, dream sequences are treated with distinct style (grainy textures, surreal framing) to emphasize disorientation.
Though darker and more intense, Black Phone 2 retains a measure of emotional heart, sibling connection, trauma, and survivors’ guilt as central themes.
🧩 Production & Behind the Scenes
After the success of The Black Phone (2022), a sequel was greenlit, with author Joe Hill pitching ideas early on
Filming began in November 2024 in Toronto and wrapped around early 2025.
The project had initially been slated for a June 2025 release, but was moved to October 2025 to better align with the Halloween / horror seasonAccording to interview hints, the sequel is meant to be a “high school coming-of-age horror” paralleling how the first film was rooted in a middle school setting. Derrickson has said he didn’t feel compelled to do a sequel, but was inspired by Hill’s idea and the opportunity to expand the mythos.