After watching an advance copy of The Black Phone, Stephen King likened the horror film to Stand By Me in hell. The Black Phone follows the story of a young boy named Finney (Mason Thames), who's kidnapped by an insidious captor named The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) and kept in his soundproof basement. There, Finney finds a black rotary phone the killer's victims use to contact him in the hopes of helping him avoid their same fate. The film comes from writer/director Scott Derrickson (Sinister, Doctor Strange) and co-writer C. Robert Cargill, based on a story by Joe Hill.
Stand By Me is similarly based on a story about kids coming face to face with mortality but under slightly less dire circumstances. The 1986 coming-of-age film is about four boys in the 1950s who form a strong kinship as they escape from their troubled home lives to journey out and search for a dead body one summer. It's based on a Stephen King story "The Body" from his collection Different Seasons. In a decade that produced so many memorable stories about growing up, Stand By Me is widely regarded as one of the best. Perhaps not coincidentally, The Black Phone's author Joe Hill is King's son, which explains their shared interest in stories that blend coming-of-age and horror elements.
In an interview with /Film, Derrickson revealed that Hill had shared the movie with his dad. The master of modern horror reportedly loved it, and praised the film simply as "Stand By Me in hell," a quote which Derrickson says he wishes could go on every movie poster for it. Derrickson agrees that there are similarities between the two and attributes King's praise to the truthfulness in both films' depictions of childhood trauma. This is especially high praise coming from the author since King's gone on record saying that Stand By Me is his favorite adaptation of his work.
Like Stand By Me, The Black Phone is about children bonding through trauma. And just like the rough home life of Stand By Me's protagonists, it's clear even before Finney is taken captive that his home life isn't the best. According to Derrickson, the film's emotional core resides in the bond between the clever and resilient Finney and his younger sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), whose dreams seem to foretell the truth. Finney also creates bonds with the other five victims of The Grabber, who connect with him across time and beyond the veil of death.
While the films' themes are undoubtedly dark, even more so because they involve children, they're also tinged with hope: the hope of finding resiliency through the strength and support of others. Childhood can be hellish, a feeling bound to strike an almost universal chord, but seeing children overcome their dark circumstances and make it through to the other side stronger can bring about a feeling of deep catharsis. It's a feeling Stand By Me achieves, which has led to its lasting appeal. While early word about The Black Phone calls it deeply disturbing, if King's quote is any indication, there's hope it'll touch some deeper sense of catharsis as well.
Source: /Film