The Black Phone ending revealed The Grabber’s supernatural elements and his fate. The Black Phone follows Finney (Mason Thames), a quiet 13-year-old boy who has a bully problem. When he’s the sixth kid to be abducted by a serial killer named “The Grabber” (Ethan Hawke) and locked away in a soundproof basement, he does everything he can to safely find his way back to his little sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw). However, he finds some unexpected help with the black phone kept in his basement cell.

While the phone isn’t connected to anything in the outside world, when Finney picks it up, he is able to communicate with the past victims of The Grabber. Through their advice and explanation of the twisted games the killer likes to play, Finney is able to stay alive and start to come up with a plan to escape this captivity. It all leads to a thrilling conclusion in which Finney has to confront The Grabber in a final showdown.

Finney Kills The Grabber In The End

The Dark Horror Movie Ends In Victory

After The Grabber brutally kills his own brother who discovers Finney in his basement, his game with Finney is done and he is ready to kill the little boy. He comes at him with an ax, intending to make his death hurt as much as possible. In desperation, Finney runs away and triggers a trap he’s been able to set up with the help of The Grabber’s other victims.

Unlike some of the bleaker horror movies, The Black Phone ending is one where the hero triumphs over the villain. The Grabber falls into a pit, breaks his ankle on a grate, and gets bludgeoned by the dirt-filled phone Finney prepared for this purpose. When it looks like The Grabber still might gain the upper hand, Finney knocks The Grabber’s mask off, and he freaks out, trying to shield his face. Finney is then able to wrap the phone cord around his neck and snap his neck. Ultimately, The Black Phone is about good triumphing over evil.

Could The Grabber Hear The Phone All Along?

The Short Story Suggests The Grabber Knows About The Phone

In The Grabber’s soundproofed basement, the тιтular Black Phone sits on a wall, disconnected. It makes a handy weapon against The Grabber, so one would think that he’d have taken it out long ago. The Black Phone is an adaptation of a Joe Hill short story that ends very similarly — though earlier — than the film. The short story The Black Phone explains that The Grabber can hear the phone.

He then reveals that “The Grabber can hear it, too.”

One of the deceased children tells Finney that the phone’s been ringing, but that Finney is the first victim who could hear it. He then reveals that “The Grabber can hear it, too.” While The Grabber doesn’t acknowledge the phone or its supernatural calls for much of the movie, when Finney is strangling the killer in the end, the voices of his past victims taunt him, and the horror on his face suggests he can hear them.

The Grabber’s Victims:

The Black Phone Represents The Grabber’s Guilt

The Sadistic Killer Knows He Is Wrong

The Grabber tells Finney to hang the phone up in the first scene in which it’s shown. It can be understood that the phone is a necessary piece of The Grabber’s psyche. He’s haunted by his past sins, and they are calling him up to get revenge and to stop him from murdering more children. He’s ignoring their call. In the near-perfect horror movie moment, the Black Phone’s cord is used to kill The Grabber.

When Finney picks up the phone and all the children get their final say to their murderer, it’s clear that they were the ones who orchestrated his death. The Black Phone, which is deeper than most realize, is emblematic of The Grabber’s guilt much like his mask is emblematic of his shame. He plays games with the kids he takes, forcing them to act “naughty” so he can better justify beating and killing them.

He can’t remove the phone from the basement because he can’t absolve himself of the murders he’s committed. That the Black Phone is ultimately used to kill The Grabber shows the care that was put into this story, basically stating that The Black Phone is about good beating evil.

The Black Phone’s Themes On Bullying

The Ending Of The Movie Comments On This Theme

Bullying is a recurring aspect in The Black Phone. Finney is bullied at school, Finney and Gwen are beaten by their alcoholic father, and The Grabber is deeply disturbed and violent, despite putting on airs of being friendly. The Black Phone has something to say about violence toward children, in particular, with some of its most uncomfortable scenes featuring Finney and Gwen’s father instead of its terrifying villain.

Finney can’t stop his father from beating Gwen. He can’t stop bullies from beating him up.

The movie sends out a message about standing up for oneself and, when that’s not enough, finding a group to stand with you. Finney can’t stop his father from beating Gwen. He can’t stop bullies from beating him up. But, emboldened by the other victims of The Grabber’s abuse, he’s able to take back control and be bold enough to stand against the murderer’s evil and violence. This follows him to the end of the film when Finney is shown to be confident and no longer miserable and scared at school.

The Real Meaning Of The Black Phone’s Ending

A Horror Story Of Good Vs Evil

Not just another Ethan Hawke horror movie, The Black Phone is about empowering victims of abuse and violence. It has a message of community and how terror can be warded off by the strength of numbers. No evil is so big that it can’t be dispelled by the unity of individuals.

The Black Phone ending speaks to a need that humanity has to destroy evil — even if that means reaching back from the grave to do it. It might be a horror movie, but The Black Phone is really more about hope than horror and more about destroying evil than being hurt by it.

Black Phone’s Ending Might Have Created Sequel Problems

Ethan Hawke Will Return In The Sequel

The Black Phone was initially set to be a one-off horror movie. However, The Black Phone made $152.8 million worldwide against an $18 million budget, and following the movie’s success, plans were made for The Black Phone 2. That said, the ending of The Black Phone purposefully doesn’t set up a sequel by any means — which could create huge problems.

The Black Phone ended on a note of finality, with Finney killing the Grabber with the help of his victims, leading to some questions about where the sequel goes from here, as Ethan Hawke is confirmed to be returning to the villainous role. Studios would obviously have to find a way to bring the serial killer back. Given the supernatural elements of the story, it is likely the Grabber will come back in that capacity.

There’s also the option of making Finney the new Grabber. This, again, would have to be handled well in order to make a good sequel.

The matter would have to be approached delicately, as poorly handled resurrections risk cheapening a franchise. There’s also the option of making Finney the new Grabber. This, again, would have to be handled well in order to make a good sequel. If Finney were traumatized enough by his time in captivity, it’s possible that this would transform him into the new serial killer. Either way, The Black Phone‘s ending suggests The Grabber will be quite different in the sequel.

The Black Phone Book Ending Is Much Shorter

The Movie Added To Finney’s Victory

In bringing the short story to the screen, there were a surprising number of changes made to The Black Phone and its ending. Notable ones like the fact that Bruce was the only victim Finney spoke with on the phone and the fact that Finney had no tools at his disposal changed the ending significantly. Finney’s escape wasn’t plotted out in The Black Phone short story but happened abruptly. It’s also worth mentioning that The Grabber had two houses in the story, one where he kept the kids and one where he buried them.

The Black Phone movie also added more to the ending with Finney’s relationship with his father and sister suggesting a change in his life leading to him having the courage to approach his crush. The Black Phone movie gave a real sense of closure to Finney’s story — something that the short story didn’t do.

How The Supernatural Plays Into The Black Phone

Do Finney And Gwen Have Special Abilities?

The Black Phone is an interesting combination of a grounded serial killer story and a supernatural story. While the sequel might take the character in another direction, The Grabber in The Black Phone is just a man. He is terrifying and ᴅᴇᴀᴅly, but his methods are all based in reality. In most horror movies, it is the killer who introduces the supernatural aspects to the story. However, The Black Phone flips that on its head and suggests that the supernatural aspects are what save the day.

This sets up an interesting mythology behind these abilities that can be explored in the sequels.

There are also hints that Finney and his sister Gwen have a connection to the supernatural. As the source material confirms, the phone had rung in the past but Finney was the only one who could hear it. Meanwhile, as her brother is trapped in The Grabber’s basement, the victims also begin appearing in Gwen’s dreams, helping her locate Finney. This sets up an interesting mythology behind these abilities that can be explored in the sequels.

How The Black Phone Ending Was Received

A Dark Horror Movie Gets A Crowd-Pleasing End

While The Black Phone was a surprise box office hit, it is likely that it wouldn’t have been so successful had it not been for the ending. While audiences can accept bleak conclusions to horror movies, with children being kidnapped by a serial killer, they want to see things work out for the young hero. The filmmakers clearly understood this and delivered a truly satisfying ending that turned this dark and disturbing story into a surprising crowd-pleaser.

The Grabber was such a terrifying villain for much of the movie that it is a real thrill to see him finally be the one who is afraid.

The ending of Finney’s plan coming into place and The Grabber falling into his trap is such a satisfying moment after all the tension and grimness of the rest of the movie. The Grabber was such a terrifying villain for much of the film that it is a real thrill to see him finally be the one who is afraid.

As if the victory for Finney wasn’t satisfying enough, the fact that the Grabber’s other victims helped him take their killer down and let him know they played a role in his demise feels like a form of justice for them. As dark as it is, The Black Phone gives audiences what they want in the end.

A Black Phone Sequel/Spinoff Kind Of Exists

V/H/S/85 Features A Short Connected To The Black Phone

While a proper The Black Phone sequel is in the works, there was a secret spinoff movie that came out recently and went largely unnoticed by fans. V/H/S/85 was the 2023 entry into the long-running horror franchise of V/H/S movies. Scott Derrickson, the director of The Black Phone, contributed a short film to this entry in the franchise which he co-wrote with his The Black Phone writing partner C. Robert Cargill.

The short is called “Dreamkill” which follows a detective who meets a teenager who claims to be seeing murders before they happen and is able to record them. While the detective is understandably skeptical of the entire thing, the boy’s father explains that psychic abilities are a recurring phenomenon in their family and refers to his sister who died by suicide due to being overwhelmed by her visions as well as his niece who used them to try and save her kidnapped brother.

While the explanation might go over the heads of some fans, it seems clear that this is a reference to Gwen’s attempts to save Finney in The Black Phone with her prophetic dreams. The reference to the sister who died is Gwen and Finney’s mother who is ᴅᴇᴀᴅ at the beginning of The Black Phone. It is a subtle way of connecting “Dreamkill” to the events of The Black Phone while establishing a wider world of supernatural abilities.