📞 Black Phone 2 (2025) In Dolby Atmos: A Call Away From Greatness

3 Out of 5 Bags 💰💰💰

Written by Jonathan Garcia

Black Phone 2

Stepping out of the theater around 2AM, I was praying I wouldn't hear a phone ring!! Black Phone 2 is a heart pounding sequel and a must watch! Going on this new adventure with Finney and Gwen as they have to take on the Grabber for a second time but this time from another world. The acting is top notch and the story is great with amazing sound design by AudioAttack! The Dolby Atmos is underwhelming but has thrilling moments where it really shines. Let’s talk about it!

🎧 Dolby Atmos

The Dolby Atmos wasn’t the strongest but had its moments. A majority of the film feels stereo or just very forward focused. There is beautiful mountain scenery and I honestly felt like I missed the audio of the wind and environment. It could've possibly been there in some areas subtly, but if it was, it wasn't very noticeable. That being said, the dialogue was the main focus of the Atmos. It stayed prominent and always locked front and center consistently. The radio static and jitter is the first time we get a taste of Dolby Atmos and then we aren't presented with full immersive audio or really noticeable immersive audio until the death of one of the campers is shown to us. It’s done well enough to not notice until the climax of each scene, the Atmos really creeps up on you! This pattern follows on throughout the film. The climatic scenes of the murders, kidnappings and fights with the Grabber have a dialed in immersion that really place us into there with the characters. I wish there was a bit more Atmos throughout, but the parts that were there delivered!

🔊 Dynamics & Loudness

The volume and sonic balance is great! No over compression and the dynamics are tame. There are no harsh or painful frequencies that happen at all. The attack of the transients are sharp but audibly soft. Nothing sounds like it’s missing in the frequency range. The film has a nice focus on the midrange overall. The immersive balance is forward leaning, relying primarily on stereo image for a majority of the film and then really immersing us when the action happens about half way through. The impacts are full and powerful and the silent moments are tense and loud! In scenes like “The Grabber’s Back” we are fully immersed in shock and the Dolby Atmos sounds stellar! Scenes like that show the amazing potentials possible with Dolby Atmos. The team did a great job and moments like this only had me wondering why they didn't add more of this throughout the entire film?

🎚️LFE

The LFE is impactful, low and feels fantastic! It's used wonderfully throughout the film in great taste to help transitions, build suspense, and aid the bass in the soundtrack and SFX. 

🎬 Favorite Moments

• Kill Kenny (the kid in orange): This turns scary fast. The entire visual and audio combination is A1. Nothing like this has happened until this part of the movie and it raises the bar for the rest of the film.

• The Phone Keeps Ringing: The way the LFE is used during this scene is so tasteful and adds to the suspense tenfold.

• Gwen Follows: As Gwen follows the Grabber to find out what’s happening, the Atmos is so suspenseful and fills the entire theater!

• Hell is NOT Flames: The Grabber is officially back and we are suddenly surrounded by the cold aura he brings. Amazing soundFX and ambience that’s used here.

💡 Final Thoughts

3 Out of 5 Bags 💰💰💰

I highly recommend watching this! Black Phone 2 is one of the best sequels to a film we’ve seen in a while. The story is great and the actors are just awesome. The franchise really makes us want a 3rd movie (they could end it here and the story would be fine, that's just us wanting more of these awesome characters!) The Dolby Atmos on the other hand was great in moments like during the fight scenes or the murder scenes, but unfortunately a majority of the Atmos felt very stereo. The LFE is robust and holds down the entire film from silent moments to cracking steps in the ice. If you had a chance to see this one in Dolby, leave us a comment below of what your thoughts were!