The Best Part Of Black Phone 2 Won't Surprise Fans Of The First Movie

This article contains minor spoilers for "The Black Phone 2."

Horror has proven to be one of the most prolific and profitable genres of cinema, with unique, adventurous stories made on a low budget that become multi-million-dollar franchises spanning decades. The most recent example, the "Conjuring" universe, decided to spotlight characters that worked well in a film and expand their role, giving audiences a reason to keep coming back for more. Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill's adaptation of Joe Hill's short story "The Black Phone" was a massive success in 2022, but the team never intended to franchise out the story. However, once it became clear that "Black Phone 2" was happening, the creative team knew that they needed to strike a balance between delivering something fresh without losing what made the first film so special.

I spoke with Scott Derrickson for Fangoria Magazine, and he explained that the central point of both stories is the brother-sister relationship between Finn (Mason Thames) and Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), and that at the end of the day, it's really about the two of them as a pair and how they protect and defend each other. Considering Finney is the one who is kidnapped by The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) in the first film, the horror is shown predominantly through his journey. For the sequel, the focus shifts slightly to Gwen without ever losing the sibling dynamic.

"Centralizing the focus on Gwen was something that seemed really natural for me for a sequel because it's different but the same," Derrickson told me. "You want to get something you didn't have in the first movie, but you don't want it to change too much." And as any fan of the first movie can attest, giving Gwen more screentime was the right call.

The horror genre is rich with incredible final girls, and they all bring something special to their complete subversion of the damsel in distress trope. Jess Bradford in "Black Christmas" will stop at nothing to make people believe her when she tells them something bad is happening. Laurie Strode in the "Halloween" franchise is committed to keeping others safe, no matter what. Nancy Thompson takes an active role in plotting how to take down Freddy in "A Nightmare on Elm Street." And Ginny Field figures out how to outsmart Jason Voorhees in "Friday the 13th: Part II."

Gwen Blake was the supernaturally attuned kid sister of Finn in the first movie, enduring the violent abuse of their alcoholic father while using her dreams as a tool to help solve the mystery of The Grabber. She was also mouthy as hell and willing to punch a bully in the face if the situation called for it. In "Black Phone 2," her dreams are becoming more vivid, a sign from the other side that her help is needed. Unfortunately, that connection has also put her in the direct line of The Grabber from beyond the grave, who wants to kill her as revenge against Finney for killing him (and "making" him kill his own brother). 

No matter how emotionally or physically tortured she is, Gwen is not a girl who lets people push her around. She kicks into action and takes control of everything. Madeleine McGraw is no stranger to horror, but she absolutely steals the movie as Gwen. She'll have audiences terrified for her safety, laughing out loud as she curses up a storm at sanctimonious Christian camp counselors, and choking back tears when she lets her walls down and feels.

Final girls are usually teenagers played by adults, but McGraw is only 16, meaning the coming-of-age woes coinciding with her frightening circumstances are even more apparent. This isn't just a character fighting to survive The Grabber; she's also trying to survive the hell that is being a teenage girl. She feels responsible for Finney and worries about how he's (not) handling what happened to him. She's been parentified as the only woman in her family after the loss of their mother, and as more kids at school learn about her "weird" dreams, the more ostracized she becomes by her classmates.

Mason Thames once again delivers a beautiful performance as Finney. He excels at showing how he's been carrying the trauma from the events of the first film over the last few years, and his chemistry with McGraw is better than ever now that the duo aren't separated by a torture basement. Fans of the franchise already know that Thames/Finney make for one of the best final guys in horror history, but pivoting the focus of the film to Gwen allows for McGraw to deliver the best (so far) performance of her career. Gwen is put through the emotional and physical wringer — arguably with a greater intensity than anything previously unleashed on the Grabber's victims short of dying — but never loses sight of who she is or what makes her powerful. Gwen Blake finally gives the current generation of young people their own final girl to aspire to be more like, and "Black Phone 2" is better for it.