Mr. Harrigan’s Phone (2022)

[Winston T. Boogie]

Title: Mr. Harrigan’s Phone (2022)

Genre: Horror

Director: John Lee Hancock

Cast: Donald Sutherland, Jaeden Martell, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Cyrus Arnold, Thomas Francis Murphy, Joe Tippett, Caitlin Shorey, Iván Amaro Bullón

Release: 2022-10-02

Plot: Craig, a young boy living in a small town befriends an older, reclusive billionaire, Mr. Harrigan. The two form a bond over books and an iPhone, but when the man passes away, the boy discovers that not everything dead is gone, and finds himself able to communicate with his friend from the grave through the iPhone that was buried with him.

 

[Malcolm R]

I just read this story and wondered how long it would be before the movie was released.

 

[EricSchulz]

Did I hear this was coming to Netflix?

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Did I hear this was coming to Netflix?

Yes, this is a Netflix release.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I just read this story and wondered how long it would be before the movie was released.

Did you like the story? I guess short wait then.

 

[Malcolm R]

Did you like the story? I guess short wait then.

Yes, I thought it was the best story in King's If It Bleeds anthology.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Obviously, this will make my and probably others list for the October Halloween challenge.

 

[Malcolm R]

The protagonist in this, Craig, is played by the same actor that played young Bill Denbrough in the IT films.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

The protagonist in this, Craig, is played by the same actor that played young Bill Denbrough in the IT films.

Is he one of the kids from Stranger Things?

 

[Malcolm R]

Is he one of the kids from Stranger Things?

No, not Stranger Things (you may be thinking of Finn Wolfhard, who was in both ST and IT). Jaeden's also been in Knives Out, Defending Jacob, and St. Vincent, among other things. He's is only 19, but has been acting for about 10 years.

 

[Malcolm R]

The trailer looks pretty faithful to the short story.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

The trailer looks pretty faithful to the short story.

I like the trailer. I look forward to watching this. One thing that occurs to me, as an aside, watching this is how long I have been watching Donald Sutherland on screen, how many truly wonderful performances he has given, and that he is such a treasure as an actor. I have been watching Mr. Sutherland's work my entire life and he is still just amazing.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

My guess would be many of us will be making this our October 5th film in the Halloween challenge. I certainly have it penciled in.

 

[ChristopherG]

Watched this last night. We enjoyed it but it is a bit of a slow burn.

 

[Scott McGillivray]

I didn’t know anything about the show before I watched it. I was really impressed with the characters and the slow pace to begin. Sadly, it just didn’t go anywhere. It might have been more impressive if this came out back in the 70s, but today it left me with such an empty feeling. I expected things to get much more interesting. The teacher warned about being careful who you invite in. The mystery closet. None if it went anywhere.
Sutherland is still an excellent actor. Was great to see him once more.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

It's a pretty straightforward story that does not throw a lot at you in terms of twists or turns. I liked that it was about the characters and their relationships as much as it is about a spooky tale about a guy communicating from the grave with his cell phone. It reminded me a bit of Stand By Me as King stories go. It helped that it was well acted and well written but sure, it does not jump right into the horror and even when it gets into that it is more about what the primary character is thinking about what may be happening than really scaring the pants off you.

Probably the best big freaky King adaptation that has come out in a long time is Doctor Sleep and that is a pretty good epic horror film and in the director's cut stands well next to The Shining.