a review of

HOOPTOBER XII NIGHT TWENTY-EIGHT: Went into this one barely remembering anything beyond the broad strokes of THE BLACK PHONE (a movie I liked, but didn't necessarily wow me) and came away impressed at how effectively it built on the dangling plot threads from the first movie, while also expanding on the themes in a way that was narratively satisfying. One of the things I really admired about this one was how little handwaving there was with key details, and how it wasn't afraid to slow down a minute and have the characters actually check in with each other and share information, while also clearly setting up the stakes. It respects the audience's intelligence while also respecting the characters'. I also really dug the visual metaphor that Derrickson came up with for depicting the "dream" reality, which from what I understand was achieved almost entirely through normal photographic means, swapping out cameras and film stocks to create a surreal, time-displaced feeling that you don't typically see in modern studio filmmaking.