Warning! SPOILERS for The Black Phone.
The Black Phone is a disturbing horror romp that never answers one of its biggest mysteries: Where do Gwen's powers come from? The Black Phone has received positive reviews from both critics and audiences, cementing itself as one of the best horror films of 2022. While much of its suspense is based on what the audience doesn't know, the question of the origin of Gwen's powers is only ever lightly touched upon.
When her 13-year-old brother, Finney (Mason Thames), is the sixth child to be abducted by a serial killer known as The Grabber (Ethan Hawke), Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) uses everything at her disposal to find him. She has a history of dreams that come true but has never had any kind of control over them. In a desperate bid to find her brother before it's too late, Gwen tries to make her powers work by praying to Jesus, sleeping whenever she can, and going to new places in the neighborhood, hoping to shake something loose.
Learning an important lesson from another horror film helmed by Scott Derrickson, The Black Phone improves on Sinister's story by not explaining all its supernatural elements. Audiences are never explicitly told how the ghosts of The Grabber's victims are communicating with Finney or where Gwen gets her powers from. Still, much can be inferred by context and a few key scenes in the movie that give viewers just enough details to make some educated guesses.
Where Did Gwen Get Her Powers In The Black Phone
It's revealed by Gwen and Finney's father that their mother had some sort of psychic gift that caused her to hear voices. It apparently eventually drove her to commit suicide. Her husband uses her death as an excuse to become an abusive alcoholic, terrified that his daughter will end up like his wife. Gwen is told that her dreams are just dreams and any claims to the contrary mean she'll get beaten. None of these details exist in Joe Hill's short horror story of which The Black Phone is an adaptation, leaving audiences without a source to gain answers from.
Gwen questions the source of her own abilities in The Black Phone. In some scenes, she seems to think her dreams come from Jesus. In others, she questions whether he exists at all. From context, it seems that Gwen gets her powers from her mother. Her belief that her abilities come from a divine source is a hint to the audience of what her powers stand for, if not where they come from: it's all about hope. Gwen and her powers exist in The Black Phone to give audiences hope that Finney has someone on the outside with some modicum of power to help him out.
Gwen is a brilliant addition to The Black Phone's cast and its story as a whole. Her inclusion is an important improvement to Joe Hill's original horror short, even if her powers are never explicitly explained in any kind of detail. Gwen and her abilities bring a ray of hope to The Black Phone that the film sorely needed and her presence gives the audience something to believe in while Finney is trapped in The Grabber's basement.