Hey, kid. How long you gonna be?: Mason Thames (left) and Ethan Hawke in ‘Black Phone 2’.
BLACK PHONE 2 **** (114 minutes) MA
An outstanding, super-scary, knockout creepfest, Black Phone 2 easily clocks in as one of the best, most skillfully conceived horror movies in years. And as good as the first film was, this is a far superior sequel that builds on the original story in an engrossing manner.
Set four years hence in 1982, Finney (Mason Thames) is still unable to get over the psychological damage of being kidnapped by masked serial killer The Grabber (Ethan Hawke), whom he dispatched in the first film.
Only here returning director Scott Derrickson (again co-writing with C. Robert Cargill) shifts focus to Finney’s sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), who dreams of receiving disturbing phone calls from her deceased mother (Anna Lore) when she worked as a counsellor at a lakeside camp.
With friend Ernesto (Miguel Mora) in tow, they go to the snow-covered camp hoping to close the deal on The Grabber, whose child victims at the camp from decades ago remain missing. The thinking is that his continuing presence in their dreamscapes will be broken if the bodies are discovered.
Making matters all the more terrifying is how Gwen’s sleepwalking puts her in peril, with The Grabber’s attacks on her manifesting in real life.
Yes, the concept of dreams crossing over into reality owes a huge debt to late director Wes Craven and Nightmare on Elm St, but that doesn’t diminish the ingenuity on show here.
Like all good horror films, the narrative established its own world and studiously sticks to the logic of that framework so that everything makes sense, however crazy it might appear.
Visually, Black Phone 2 boasts a highly distinctive, textured look. Shot on film stock, as all movies were in the 1980s – modern directors refuse to surrender their love of film for digital – the film is marked by high-end cinematography that depicts the dream sequences as grainy nightmares, making them all the more creepy.
Though there are some well-timed moments of levity, particularly with the budding romance between Gwen and Ernesto, the film plays it straight, with great work from young lead actress McGraw setting the tone.
Notably, there is a potent spiritual element coursing through the narrative, with scripture quotes and Jesus references helping drive the mystery elements. Read into that what you will though, wisely, it never becomes overbearing.
This is another top-tier horror offering from the prolific Blumhouse production floor. If it keeps up this standard of horror the Oscars are going to have to introduce a new, and ling overdue, category recognizing genre films.
ROOFMAN ***1/2 (125 minutes) M
A bizarre true-life crime caper is brought to luminous live in the first-rate comedy-drama Roofman, an energetic lark in which Channing Tatum continues to-bolster his acting credentials.
With the semi-improvised swagger that has become his signature, Tatum plays ex-soldier Jeffrey Manchester, a gentleman robber who boosted a long string of McDonald’s stores, escaped from prison and lived in a Toys R Us for months while waiting for fake documents.
Chronicling his escapade in fun detail, the story turns on his relationship with employee Leigh Wainscott (Kirsten Dunst), a devout Christian woman he falls for via security cameras he has set up in and near the office of no-nonsense, slightly tyrannical manager Mitch (Peter Dinklage).
As his bond with her deepens, so too does the tension between his desire to stay within the acceptance and comfort of a God-loving community and the need to head off where he can never be found.
Director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine) masterfully guides the evolving inner conflicts to a moving final reel that pits Manchester’s need for love against his impulse for self-preservation.
Real-life news footage graces the closing credits, showing how well the film captured the main characters, artistic license notwithstanding.
AFTER THE HUNT ** (139 minutes) MA
In an interminable, meandering, flailing attempt at a deep-and-meaningful #metoo drama about the repercussions of a sexual assault allegation, After the Hunt firmly establishes Luca Guadagnino as one of the most overrated directors working today.
Set in 2019 amidst the academic culture of the storied Yale university, philosophy professor Alma Imhoff (Julia Roberts) is told by student Maggie (Ayo Edebiri) how she was assaulted by Alma’s colleague and close friend Hank Gibson (Andrew Garfield).
Heavy and reeking of self importance (the running time gives due warning), the film is crammed with academia-speak and surprisingly soft-edged drama as Guadagnino fails to build up an appreciable head of dramatic steam or keep matters from concluding with a resounding whimper.
The pretensions the film holds of juggling with hot-button topics are continually exposed by a host of wearying longueurs in which the characters appear locked in a competition over who is the most verbose and irritating.
Yet another example of a film that likely would have been much better had it been much shorter, After the Hunt also delivers a sound, uncomfortable reminder of how Julia Roberts, an admittedly gifted comedic talent, is far from being a great actress.
Try as she does, and in the face of claims that she delivers a stand-out performance, many scenes find her unconvincing, with multiple cuts to different camera angles denying her the chance to deliver punchy monologues.
Curiously, the film’s opening and closing credits follow the font and format long instantly recognisable with Woody Allen.
A quick query on ChatGPT explains how Guadagnino deliberately went with it. His reported intention was to draw allusions to works by Allen that deal with moral complexity. Also, he claims to reference Allen’s standing as a great artist dealing with similar – albeit unfounded – allegations of sexual impropriety.
No reason to doubt any of that. Still, it sounds like complete bulltwang papering over a lack of originality. Talk about a misfire.
By the way, for a much better take on these issues, check out David Mamet’s excellent 1994 two-hander Oleanna. It’s on Prime and it still stands.
And it’s only 90 minutes.
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