---
title: "Black Phone 2 (2025) review"
description: "Huge respect for a franchise pivoting this hard. Mixed feelings on the execution."
url: https://www.joekarlsson.com/reviews/black-phone-2/
---

![A still from Black Phone 2 (2025)](https://www.joekarlsson.com/images/reviews/black-phone-2/backdrop.webp)

# Black Phone 2 (2025)

Jan 22, 2026 | Rated 3.5 out of 5 | Dir. Scott Derrickson

Huge respect for a franchise pivoting this hard. Mixed feelings on the execution.

The comparisons to The Shining and Nightmare on Elm Street are fitting - Black Phone 2 is reaching for that kind of elevated horror iconography, and you can feel it in every frame. I’m a huge fan of a franchise taking a big risk like this, pivoting so hard into a different visual tone and new themes. That takes guts, and I want to reward it.

But it doesn’t fully land for me. The pacing drags in stretches, and I found myself checking out during sections that should have been building tension.

I love Ethan Hawke, and I’ll watch him in pretty much anything. I love that he’s best friends with Jason Blum and keeps making horror with him, just like he keeps making quiet films with Linklater. The guy has range and loyalty. He’s good in this.

Also on [Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/joekarlsson/film/black-phone-2/)

## Works on My Machine

Get the next post by email. My newsletter covers homelab builds, AI tools and open source, and it goes out when I have something to say.

It's free, and you can unsubscribe anytime. You'll get an email to confirm first.

![Joe Karlsson at his desk, chin on hand, with a microphone in front of him](https://www.joekarlsson.com/images/about/collage/studio.webp)

Joe  
Karlsson

I write about my homelab, AI tools, databases, and the weird stuff I build on the side.

[More about me →](https://www.joekarlsson.com/about/)

[Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/joekarlsson.com) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joekarlsson/) | [GitHub](https://github.com/JoeKarlsson)