Netflix Just Added One of the Best Horror Movies of the Decade (But Its Sequel Is Missing)

Netflix’s horror catalog just got a little bigger with the arrival of one of the best horror movies of the decade. The streaming giant offers a strong, varied lineup of horror titles ranging from Bram Stoker’s Dracula to Train to Busan, M3GAN 2.0, and more. That library gets frequent updates with the arrival of new titles every month, and subscribers won’t want to miss the 2021 horror movie that just dropped on the platform.

The Grabber has officially arrived on Netflix. Scott Derrickson’s standout 2021 supernatural horror film The Black Phone, starring Ethan Hawke as the modern horror icon, joined Netflix’s streaming lineup on February 12th. The movie centers around a 13-year-old boy abducted by a masked child killer who discovers a mysterious disconnected black phone in the basement where he is held captive that allows the murderer’s previous victims to guide him to escape. Unfortunately for fans, The Black Phone’s sequel, Black Phone 2, didn’t follow the original onto Netflix and is currently only available to stream on Peacock.

The Black Phone Is an Intense Supernatural Horror-Thriller Worthy of a Franchise

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There’s no doubt that The Black Phone is one of the best horror movies to come out of the last few years. The movie is a masterclass in atmospheric horror. Rather than relying on jump scares or gratuitous gore, Derrickson shifts the horror focus to psychological dread. The film builds a suffocating, gritty, and deeply unsettling environment that lingers even after the movie ends and feels both intimate and horrifyingly claustrophobic. It grounds that suspense in a gritty 1970s suburban setting and a character-driven narrative that carries actual emotional weight. The Black Phone also introduces one of the best modern villains in The Grabber, perfectly portrayed by Hawke and balanced by the emotional performances of Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw.

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The Black Phone’s Entire Story Explained (In Chronological Order)

The Black Phone definitely made a strong case as a standout, high-quality entry in the modern horror genre, and while some things are best left untouched, its sequel, Black Phone 2, proved its ability to carry a franchise. The 2025 movie managed to evolve the story and lore of the original past a self-contained survival story into a broader, mythology-driven supernatural series, and it performed incredibly well with critics and audiences. The movie managed to score a 72% Tomatometer score and 83% Popcornmeter rating, which was just slightly below the original’s 81% and 89% scores on Rotten Tomatoes. Although The Grabber’s return hasn’t been confirmed, we wouldn’t be disappointed if a Black Phone 3 was announced.

What’s New on Netflix?

The Black Phone is far from the only movie freshly streaming on Netflix worthy of adding to your watchlist. The streamer has added dozens of titles already throughout February, including films like Crazy, Stupid, Love, the first two animated How to Train Your Dragon movies and the 2025 live-action remake, and Zero Dark Thirty. On the TV front, subscribers can now stream every season of NBC’s Night Court reboot and the beloved 2000s teen sitcom What I Like About You.

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