Spoiler alert: The following contains details about Black Phone 2.
In 2022’s , Finney Shaw (Mason Thames), a 13-year-old, triumphs over the Grabber ( ), a serial killer of children. He receives assistance from the ghosts of the Grabber’s former victims, who communicate with him via a disconnected rotary phone in the basement where he is held captive.
Black Phone 2, which is set in 1982, four years after the first film, quickly reveals that the Grabber remains a threat even after death. The sequel follows Finney, now 17, and his 15-year-old sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), who has psychic abilities. They trace the Grabber’s origins to a Christian winter camp in the Rocky Mountains and discover that their family’s tormenter has not completely vanished.
According to writer-director Scott Derrickson (Sinister, ) and co-writer C. Robert Cargill, Joe Hill, the author of the original short story and son of Stephen King, inspired the sequel’s concept. Cargill stated that Hill suggested the idea of the Grabber calling Finney from Hell when a phone rings.
Derrickson noted that the concept of the Grabber’s Hell being icy and cold, rather than hot and fiery, was influenced by Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy.” He mentioned his fascination with the Inferno and the notion of the Grabber residing in the ninth circle of Hell, where people are frozen in ice, as a compelling idea.
After Gwen has visions of three young boys whose spirits are trapped at Alpine Lake, where they were murdered by the Grabber decades ago, the Shaw siblings decide to visit the camp. Once there, a winter storm strands them, and they discover that the Grabber can draw power from the lingering fear of the boys’ souls. This allows him to return as a supernatural entity, attacking Gwen in her dreams and causing chaos. To permanently end the Grabber’s terror, they must recover the bodies of his first three victims from the frozen lake and give them a proper burial.
Gwen and Finney become even more determined to send the Grabber back to Hell after learning that their mother, whom they believed committed suicide, was actually murdered by him when she uncovered his secret using her psychic abilities. Derrickson stated that this revelation was the major turning point that propelled the sequel forward.
He told that the idea of the Grabber’s involvement in the death of Finn and Gwen’s mother was unexpectedly interesting. He added that it sparked story ideas that he couldn’t ignore and that it became a significant twist in a movie with few surprises, providing an emotional backbone for the film.
With the assistance of their friend Ernesto (Miguel Mora), their father Terrence (Jeremy Davies), and some of the camp staff, the siblings set out to retrieve the boys’ bodies from the lake. However, the Grabber’s attack on the group endangers their plan when Gwen enters a dream state. Fortunately, Gwen realizes she possesses supernatural power in that liminal space and manages to hold off the Grabber long enough for the bodies to be recovered. The spirits of the three boys then aid in defeating the Grabber, sending him back to Hell.
Upon returning to the campgrounds, Gwen receives a call from her mother on a long-dead pay phone, who tells her that she is now at peace in heaven and advises her to view her psychic abilities as a gift rather than a curse.
Derrickson explained that the sequel focuses on Gwen rather than Finney because Gwen’s struggles with her mother’s death, inheriting her spiritual gift, and feeling like an awkward outsider are more complex. He stated that it needed to be her story to have a meaningful impact.