How to watch

The Black Phone follows Finney Blake, a shy 13-year-old abducted by a masked killer known as The Grabber, played with unnerving menace by Ethan Hawke. Locked in a soundproof basement, Finney discovers a disconnected phone that lets him hear the voices of the killer's previous victims. His sister Gwen, whose dreams reveal hidden truths, becomes just as important to the story, and in Black Phone 2 she takes center stage.

🕐 Release Order

With only two films, release order and story order match perfectly, which makes this one of the easiest horror franchises to start.

1. The Black Phone (2022)
2. Black Phone 2 (2025)

The first film is set in a Denver suburb in 1978. The sequel jumps forward four years to 1982, when Gwen's nightmares draw the siblings to a snowbound winter camp with ties to The Grabber's past.

📖 Story Chronology

The chronology is simple: the story follows Finney and Gwen as they grow older and confront the same evil in a new, supernatural form.

1. The Black Phone (2022)
2. Black Phone 2 (2025)

Which Order Should You Choose?

There is only one sensible way to watch these films: start with The Black Phone and then move on to Black Phone 2. The sequel leans heavily on the first movie's ending, the relationship between Finney and Gwen, and the rules of the mysterious phone, so skipping ahead would spoil the payoff. If you want to go deeper, Joe Hill's original short story is collected in his anthology 20th Century Ghosts and makes a great companion read.

🔗 Related Guides

• Sinister Watch OrderGuide
• Insidious Watch OrderGuide
• It Watch OrderGuide

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