Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum
2018South Korea★ 7.33.5 pt match
Both films sit with feeling powerless and loss of innocence. The feel is the same: bleak, tense, slow burn, and escalating.
The Black Phone
2021USALanguage: EnglishDirected by Scott Derrickson★ 7.5
Finney Blake, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney.
Themes and style
Tone
bleaktensehauntingbrutal
Pacing
slow burnescalating
Story
survivalescapesiege
Emotion
feeling powerlessloss of innocencesacrificegrief
Themes
family wounds passed downpovertyfamily duty
Feel
gut punchquietly hauntingdiscussion starterexhausting
Violence
graphicWhere to watch
Foreign films like The Black Phone
These foreign films share the same emotional core, themes, and structural feel as The Black Phone. Every one of them has confirmed English subtitles or dubbing.
Julia's Eyes
2010Spain★ 6.73 pt match
Like The Black Phone, this one is rooted in grief, loss of innocence, and feeling powerless. The feel is the same: tense, haunting, slow burn, and escalating.