History Film / TheBlackPhone

Set in [[TheSeventies 1978]] in Denver, Colorado, the film follows Finney (newcomer Mason Thames), a young boy who is kidnapped by a serial killer (Creator/EthanHawke) and is trapped in his basement. His only chance for escape is to use a mysterious phone that allows him to contact the killer's past victims.

!!Tropes:

The film was produced by Jason Blum through Creator/BlumhouseProductions. It was released on June 24, 2022 [[note]]It was originally meant for a February 4th release, but was pushed back due to concerns regarding [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic the Omicron variant]].[[/note]]. A sequel is [[https://variety.com/2023/film/news/the-black-phone-2-sequel-1235770799/ in development]] with a planned release of June 27, 2025.

[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_black_phone.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:''"The phone is dead. And it's ringing."'']]

The film was produced by Jason Blum through Creator/BlumhouseProductions. It was released on June 24, 2022 [[note]]It was originally meant for a February 4th release, but was pushed back due to concerns regarding [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic the Omicron variant]].[[/note]]. A sequel is [[https://variety.com/2023/film/news/the-black-phone-2-sequel-1235770799/ in development]] with a planned release of June 27, 2025

* BaitAndSwitch: The police are shown breaking into the house [[spoiler:Gwen saw in her dreams]] during the climax while Finney is having his final showdown with his captor in the basement, but [[spoiler:the house the cops broke into is a completely different, empty house. [[ZigZagged But BUT]], it's where the Grabber buried his victims' bodies of his victims and right across the street from where Finney is being held]].
* BalloonOfDoom: The killer is shown handling some surprisingly ominous black balloons.

* WhiteMaskOfDoom: the Grabber's creepy devil mask, which is off-white and has interchangeable bottom pieces to reflect his moods. When [[spoiler:Finney pulls it off, the Grabber panics and tries to cover his face, which is ultimately his undoing

* BaitAndSwitch: The police are shown breaking into the Grabber's house during the climax while Finney is having his final showdown with his captor in the basement only to realize [[spoiler:the house they broke into is where the Grabber is keeping the dead bodies of his victims and is NOT where the still alive Finney is being imprisoned]].

* CoolMask / MalevolentMaskedMan: in almost all his scenes, the Grabber wears a finely detailed demonic mask with interchangeable mouthpieces displaying different facial expressions. He sometimes removes the bottom half or the top half but never the whole thing.

* MaskOfConfidence: anytime the Grabber is with Finney, he wears a creepily detailed devil mask with interchangeable facial expressions. At the very end, when [[spoiler:Finn pulls the mask off, the Grabber is reduced to a gibbering coward who lets go of Finn in order to try and cover his own face]]. This proves to be his undoing.

* AbusiveParents: Finney and Gwen’s father is an alcoholic who spanks Gwen for claiming her dreams are visions, just like her mother did. She sobs loudly because of how much her bottom hurts.

* MalevolentMaskedMan: The Grabber wears demonic-looking masks in most of his scenes.

* NeckSnap: [[spoiler:The Grabber]] ends up killed courtesy of one of these [[spoiler:with a phone receiver cord serving as an improvised garrotte]].

The film was produced by Jason Blum through Creator/BlumhouseProductions. It was released on June 24, 2022 [[note]]It was originally meant for a February 4th release, but was pushed back due to concerns regarding [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic the Omicron variant]].[[/note]].

* SharedUniverse: Scott Derrickson's segment of ''Film/VHS85'' focuses on an uncle and cousin of Finney's and Gwen's who also have psychic powers; their deceased mother is mentioned as being DrivenToSuicide by her powers, and Gwen herself is directly mentioned.

* CowardlyLion: Finney is this in spades. He is initially shown as being unwilling to confront his bullies and abusive father or even initiate a conversation with his crush. Once the Grabber enters the picture, Finney more than rises to the occasion by being the first of The Grabber's victims to injure him during the initial kidnapping and eventually [[spoiler:killing him with nothing but a broken phone receiver and his bare hands]].

* DontMakeMeTakeMyBeltOff: Finney and Gwen's father gives Gwen's bottom a vicious beating with a belt in an effort to discourage her from believing in her psychic powers. The Grabber's modus operandi also echoes corporal punishment -- he uses a knife to finish his victims off, but he prefers to beat them with a belt first as punishment for "disobeying" him.

** Gwen's bottom is whipped very hard with her father's belt. In those days "a good spanking" was often seen as an essential part of child discipline.

* LittleMissBadass: Gwen. Throughout the film, despite her small physical stature, she does not hesitate to provide ample demonstrations of this trope: giving a withering [[ClusterFBomb profanity-laced]] response to one of the detectives questioning her when he sort of implies she might have something to do with the Grabber (due to her dreams giving her information not released to the public); splitting open the head of a bully beating up her brother with a rock the size of a baby's head; and fearlessly tracking down the housing unit where [[spoiler:the Grabber commits his crimes]] [[note]] Although not her fault, the climax of the film reveals that [[spoiler:the Grabber has another house for killing (although both houses are directly in front of each other)]]. The one that is shown in her psychic visions and the police bust is [[spoiler:just for storing his victims' corpses]]. [[/note]] by herself.

** Gwen gets a very hard spanking on her bottom with a belt.

* AbusiveParents: Finney and Gwen’s father is an alcoholic who beats Gwen for claiming her dreams are visions, just like her mother did.

* FantasyForbiddingFather: Finney and Gwen's father physically punishes Gwen with his belt for believing that her psychic dreams are real.