Mr. Harrigan's Phone

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For the novella on which the film was based, see Mr. Harrigan's Phone (novella).
Mr. Harrigan's Phone
Mr harrigans phone (film).jpg
Promotional release poster
Directed byJohn Lee Hancock
Written byJohn Lee Hancock
Based onMr. Harrigan's Phone
by Stephen King
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJohn Schwartzman
Edited byRobert Frazen
Music byJavier Navarrete
Production
companies
  • Blumhouse Television
  • Ryan Murphy Productions
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • October 5, 2022 (2022-10-05)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Mr. Harrigan's Phone is a 2022 American teen horror drama film written and directed by John Lee Hancock.[1][2] It is based on the novella of the same name by Stephen King from the collection If It Bleeds. The film stars Donald Sutherland, Jaeden Martell, Joe Tippett and Kirby Howell-Baptiste.

Mr. Harrigan's Phone was released on October 5, 2022, by Netflix. The film received mixed reviews.

Plot[]

Craig becomes acquainted with retired businessman Mr. John Harrigan following the death of his mother, with instructions to simply read to him three times a week. As five years pass, a teenage Craig and elderly Harrigan become fast friends, despite Harrigan showing some anti-social tendencies. During this time, Craig starts high school and becomes relatively close to his teacher Ms. Hart, who comes to his aid when Kenny, a school bully, attempts to intimidate him. After winning $3,000 from a lottery ticket that Harrigan gave him and receiving his first iPhone for Christmas, Craig buys Harrigan one too, despite Harrigan first showing resistance to new technology.

Harrigan dies unexpectedly, leaving Craig rather broken at the loss of his old friend. At the funeral, Craig sneaks Harrigan's phone into his suit. He is then informed by Harrigan's associates that he was left a bequest in Harrigan's will and will receive $800,000 in his trust fund, knowing Craig wanted to go to college and be a writer. Craig calls Harrigan's phone as a small gesture of thanks and regret. However, the next morning he finds that Harrigan sent him an odd text message. His father chalks it up to it being a bug within the iPhone itself.

Craig attempts to move on with his life, going to a dance with a crush of his, only to be attacked by Kenny, who accuses Craig of getting him expelled from school. After being taken home, Craig calls Harrigan's phone in a fit of frustration and sadness; he tells him he is "afraid that this won't end, and I wish that you were here just to give me some advice." Kenny is found dead the next day; allegedly, he fell from his bedroom window attempting to sneak out. Scared by what happened, Craig goes to an Apple store, upgrades his phone to a newer model, and hides his old one.

Craig eventually graduates from high school and goes off to college in Boston, preparing to study journalism. Midway through, however, his father calls him to tell him Ms. Hart was killed in a car accident involving a drunk driver, leaving her fiancé hospitalized. The driver, Dean Whitmore, isn't charged for the accident and is instead sent to rehab. Infuriated by it, Craig returns to his room and uses his old phone to call Harrigan, wishing death on Whitmore. After some time, Craig learns Whitmore was found dead in his shower. He drives to the rehab center and bribes a worker there to get more details about the suicide, revealing that Whitmore swallowed shampoo and shoved a piece of broken soap bar, the same soap used by Ms. Hart, in his mouth before leaving a suicide note, which Craig notices is actually the lyrics to the song Stand by Your Man by Tammy Wynette; Harrigan's ringtone.

Craig breaks down and returns to his hometown. From there, he sees Harrigan's "secret closet" (which Harrigan refused to let Craig enter) was actually a shrine to his deceased mother and visits Harrigan's gravestone, apologizing for what he did and even theorizing that Harrigan's odd text messages to him are begging Craig to let his spirit rest peacefully in Heaven and for Craig to move forward in the here and now. As he leaves Harrigan's grave, Craig visits his own mother's grave and collapses in tears, begging for forgiveness. Craig then rushes to the town quarry, first intending to commit suicide before deciding to throw his old phone into the river. As Craig walks away, he quietly narrates that when he himself passes on and is buried, he wants his pockets to be empty.

Cast[]

Production[]

In July 2020, Netflix acquired the film rights to "Mr. Harrigan's Phone", to be produced by Blumhouse Productions and Ryan Murphy and with John Lee Hancock writing and directing the film.[3][4] In October 2021, Donald Sutherland, Jaeden Martell,[5] Kirby Howell-Baptiste, and Joe Tippett joined the cast.[6][7] Principal photography started in Connecticut on October 20, 2021, and wrapped on December 22, 2021.[4]

Release[]

The film was released on October 5, 2022, by Netflix.[8]

Critical reception[]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 45% of 56 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The website's consensus reads, "Despite a pair of layered performances from its talented leads, Mr. Harrigan's Phone never quite connects with the source material's intriguing themes."[9] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 55 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[10]

In Common Sense Media, Brian Costello gave it a 4/5 rating saying that "viewers might expect a horror-thriller, but this is more of a coming-of-age story about the perils of revenge and a reflection on how we've changed since the arrival of the smartphone."[11] In The Hollywood Reporter, Frank Scheck said that "unfortunately, despite its intriguing premise, Mr. Harrigan's Phone lacks the necessary ingredient to make it truly memorable; it simply isn't very scary."[12]

In the Arizona Republic,[13] Bill Goodykoontz gave it a 4/5 rating saying that "as with the greatest King stories, the best parts here are not the horror elements (of which there are few). It's the time spent with the characters."[14]

On CinemaBlend,[13] Eric Eisenberg gave it a 2/5 rating saying that "its a dull and lagging feature that tries to be both a coming-of-age drama and a supernatural horror film, and it ends up failing to make an emotional impact with either genre."[15] Writing in The Guardian, Benjamin Lee also gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, calling it "...a competently made yet utterly inconsequential pre-Halloween time-waster."[16] On IGN, Ryan Leston said, "what’s worse is that this potentially terrifying tale does almost nothing of any horror value throughout its overly long runtime. There are no jump scares, no dream sequences, no monsters, no gore, or anything remotely resembling a hefty-enough scare to warrant calling this a horror film."[2]

References[]

  1. ^ "Mr. Harrigan's Phone". Netflix. Retrieved 8 October 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Mr. Harrigan's Phone Review". IGN. Retrieved 8 October 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (July 10, 2020). "Stephen King Novella 'If It Bleeds' Draws Movie Deals From Netflix & John Lee Hancock/Jason Blum/Ryan Murphy, Two Others From Ben Stiller And Darren Aronofsky". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Film and TV Projects Going Into Production - Mr. Harrigan's Phone". Variety Insight. Archived from the original on April 8, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  5. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 1, 2021). "'Mr. Harrigan's Phone': Donald Sutherland & Jaeden Martell To Star In Netflix Blumhouse Movie – BlumFest". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  6. ^ Grobar, Matt (October 25, 2021). "'Mr. Harrigan's Phone': Joe Tippett Joins John Lee Hancock's Netflix Film Based On Stephen King Short Story". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  7. ^ Grobar, Matt (October 27, 2021). "'Mr. Harrigan's Phone': Kirby Howell-Baptiste Joins John Lee Hancock's Netflix Film Based On Stephen King Short Story". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  8. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 30, 2022). "Netflix Fall & Holiday Film Slate Includes Release Dates For Bardo, The Pale Blue Eye, Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical & More – Full List". Deadline Hollywood.
  9. ^ "Mr. Harrigan's Phone". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  10. ^ "Mr. Harrigan's Phone". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  11. ^ "Mr. Harrigan's Phone". Common Sense Media. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  12. ^ "«'Mr. Harrigan's Phone' Review: Donald Sutherland in a Netflix Stephen King Adaptation That Lacks Chills". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b "All Critics Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  14. ^ "Netflix's 'Mr. Harrigan's Phone,' based on a Stephen King story, is a call worth taking". AzCentral. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  15. ^ "Netflix's Mr. Harrigan's Phone Review: A Faithful Stephen King Adaptation That Struggles To Translate Into A Movie". CinemaBlend. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  16. ^ Lee, Benjamin (October 5, 2022). "Mr Harrigan's Phone review – minor Stephen King gets minor Netflix treatment". The Guardian.

External links[]

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