Naman Shrestha
A direct sequel to the 2021 film ‘The Black Phone,’ ‘Black Phone 2’ is a supernatural horror movie that revolves around the aftermath of Finney “Finn” Shaw’s captivity and escape from the sadistic Grabber. Now 17 years old, Finn remains traumatized by his life-threatening encounter with the killer. Meanwhile, his 15-year-old sister, Gwen, begins to receive calls from the haunting black phone in her nightmares, which worsen when she also envisions the next potential victims of the Grabber being stalked at a winter camp called Alpine Lake Youth Camp.
When she opens up about her disturbing visions to her older brother, the siblings decide to embark on a dangerous quest to get to the bottom of the mystery. They travel to the winter camp, where they expect to confront the Grabber, unaware that the killer has gotten more powerful than ever since his death. With Scott Derrickson at the helm, the thriller features a talented ensemble cast reprising their roles, including Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, and Jeremy Davies. Most of the mystery unfolds in snowy dream sequences, adding a layer of chill and thrill to the suspenseful story.
Black Phone 2 Filming Locations
The shooting for ‘Black Phone 2’ took place in Ontario, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area and Huntsville. According to reports, principal photography for the Ethan Hawke starrer got underway in early November 2024 under the working title of ‘Mysterium’ and continued for more than three months before wrapping up by the last week of January 2025. During a conversation with Rue Morgue, Madeleine McGraw, who portrays Gwen, admitted feeling disgusted and horrified upon coming across the Grabber’s prosthetics on set. She stated, “…I’m not gonna lie; there were times when I would see the Grabber’s prosthetics just sitting on a table near my chair, and they looked disgusting. There were times when I was completely grossed out, but I pushed through, and honestly, it helped for the scenes.”
Greater Toronto Area, Ontario
‘Black Phone 2’ was reportedly lensed entirely across the Greater Toronto Area, which consists of the eponymous city and the surrounding municipalities. The cities of Toronto and Mississauga served as the two major production locations for the horror thriller. The area around the Toronto City Hall at 100 Queen Street West, including an apartment right in front of it, features in several key portions. Furthermore, the filming unit set up camp in and around Wally’s Family Restaurant at 3480 Hurontario Street in Mississauga to tape various important scenes.
According to reports, the production team recreated the frozen lake scenes on a sound stage in the GTA because shooting those scenes on location was dangerous, considering the heavy equipment and multiple cast and crew members standing over the frozen lake. Portraying Gwen allowed Madeleine to do many stunts, for which she got SCUBA certified and learned new skills. Apart from the risky stunts, she did her own stunts, including being thrown against the walls. The risky ones were performed by her stunt double, Torianna Lee.
Huntsville, Ontario
For shooting purposes, the filming unit also traveled to the town of Huntsville, located in the hilly terrain of the Canadian Shield. Since the shooting took place during the winter season, they found many of the lakes in the town frozen, making them ideal for taping establishing shots for the frozen lake scenes. In the aforementioned interview, Madeleine revealed that the scenes set in snowy locations were shot amidst real snow. She said, “There were several feet of snow that we were filming in. And I remember Mason, Jeremy, and I were filming this really important scene, and every time we’d go out to film it, it would start pouring snow. It wasn’t supposed to be snowing in the scene; it was just supposed to be leftover snow from the past days. And Scott was adamant about there not being any snow falling during the scene, so we had to push it off for like three days.”
“We were all freezing our butts off the entire time. Whenever I was wearing my pink PJs, they were short-sleeved, so I was kind of freezing at times, but the wardrobe team made sure they covered me with a heat blanket, and gave me so many hand-warmers. That entire crew did a great job of looking after all of us kids,” she added.
Read More: Where was The Black Phone Filmed?
