Mr. Harrigan’s Phone (Netflix, 2022)
Mr. Harrigan's Phone is a perfectly fine Stephen King film adaptation, which relies more on atmosphere and slow burn tension than on jump scares.
Set in New England, the film takes place at various times in the first decade of this century. The story revolves around teenage boy Craig (Jaeden Martell), who is raised by his single father after the death of his mother.
To earn some extra money, he works as a reader for a retired billionaire: Mr. Harrigan (Donald Sutherland). Craig reads classic books to him like Lady Chatterly’s Lover, Heart of Darkness (‘the horror… the horror’), and later on, Crime and Punishment.
Then, in 2007, the iPhone is introduced to the world. Mr. Harrigan soon becomes addicted to his copy, which carries the ringtone of the Tammy Wynette classic ‘Stand by your man’.
After Mr. Harrigan’s death due to heart failure Craig slips his beloved iPhone back into his pocket when he is about to embark on his journey to the afterlife.
This is the small event that sets the bigger story in motion. Around the same time, Craig is being bullied at school and although he seems too passive to do anything about it, he can wish something terrible will happen to the bully in question.
The movie, though, is smart enough not too give away too much too soon. In fact, the first part of the picture feels more like a melancholic coming of age film than anything else. Still, it is revealed early on that Mr. Harrigan had a dark side too, so this gives a necessary edge to the proceedings.
The script also offers up a few words of wisdom about the dangers of the internet and fake news, and also offers up a famous quote by Thoreau about ‘the things we own that end up owning us.’ Like mobile phones, of course.
Filmmaker John Lee Hancock isn't your typical horror director, but that's not a disqualification in this case. He is a craftsman who can handle multiple genres. He directed Sandra Bullock to her Oscar in The Blind Side and also made films such as Saving Mr. Banks (about the author of Mary Poppins), the sports drama The Rookie and the crime film The Highwaymen, which is also on Netflix. And once again he serves both this supernatural story and his quite actors well.
Mr. Harrigan's Phone was produced for Netflix by noted horror production company Blumhouse along with Ryan Murphy, who is currently having success with his Jeffrey Dahmer horror-series.
The lead role of Craig is played by Jaeden Martell, who also appeared in the two recent It films, also based on the work of Stephen King. Martell does a fine job, though best in show is definitely Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan. Even at this late stage of his career he reminds us once again what a great character actor he is.
Compared to The Black Phone, with which it shares some obvious similarities, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is even more of a moody thriller with some horror elements than a full-on horror fest. In fact, it is perfect for people who believe horror is too scary for them.
Then again, after watching Mr. Harrigan’s Phone you may never look at your iPhone in quite the same way as you did before - and perhaps that’s scary enough.