"If Mr. Harrigan had anything to do with anyone dying, that made me an accessory."
Craig: Mr. Harrigan, has anyone ever tried to take advantage of you? How'd you deal with that?
Mr. Harrigan: Harshly.
Mr. Harrigan: Harshly.
Mr. Harrigan's Phone is a horror film written and directed by John Lee Hancock (The Rookie (2002), Saving Mr. Banks, The Founder), produced by Ryan Murphy and Jason Blum, and based upon the Stephen King novella of the same name (a part of short stories If It Bleeds). It stars Jaeden Martell, Donald Sutherland, and Kirby Howell-Baptiste.
The story follows a bullied teen, Craig (Martell) who finds a job with an elderly man (Sutherland) who he soon befriends. When the man passes away, however, the teen finds that his friend may not be as lost as he believes… for better and for worse. The film released on Netflix on October 5, 2022.
Previews: Trailer
Mr. Harrigan's Phone includes examples of:
- Actor Allusion: It's not the first time for features Cyrus Arnold as a protagonist school bully.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Harrigan's housekeeeper states that he was a good man... but not someone whose bad side you wanted to be on.
- I Choose to Stay: Craig intended to jump a cliff to suicide, but later he decided to throw his old phone into the river so that he won't be depressed by another tragedy and stay in his life.
- Karmic Death: Kenny dies in the same position he left Craig after beating him up. His mouth is also filled with the shoe polish he tried to bully Craig into polishing his shoes with. The drunk driver who killed Ms. Hart dies in the shower at his court-mandated (fancy and luxurious) rehab facility, choking on a bar of her favorite soap.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Craig and Harrigan became friends when the latter asked if Craig could read books to him due to his poor eyesight, which continued until Harrigan died when Craig was around 14.
- Phone Call from the Dead: Craig places Harrigan's phone in his pocket before he's buried so he can leave a voice mail expressing how much he misses him. He then starts getting strange text messages from him and every time he calls Harrigan to express his anger at someone, those people end up dying in strange ways.
"My grandma always used to say... a person shouldn't call out unless they're looking for an answer."
