the black phone is a 2021 american supernatural horror movie directed by scott derrickson and written by derrickson and c. robert cargill. it is based on the 2004 short story of the same name by joe hill. the film stars mason thames, madeleine mcgraw, jeremy davies, james ransone, and ethan hawke. in the movie is about a kidnapped teenager (thames) and how he uses a mysterious phone to talk with the dead victims of his kidnapper "the grabber" (hawke).