Netflix has released the frightening new trailer for Mr. Harrigan's Phone, the latest horror film to join the new lineup of Stephen King adaptations.
King has been having quite a resurgence of late. With a slew of new novels coming out, remakes of It, Pet Sematary, and fresh takes on his new books with hit HBO series like The Outsider and the Apple TV Plus adaptation of Mr. Mercedes, he’s been having as hot a decade as the 1980s treated him when he was still the new kid on the horror block. A new trailer for Mr. Harrigan's Phone, from Ryan Murphy and Blumhouse Productions and Netflix, has dropped to day, leaving fans with a bout of that King goodness, equal parts nostalgic and terrifying.
The trailer, dropped by Netflix onto their YouTube channel, sees stars Jaeden Martell and Donald Sutherland as Craig and the titular Mr. Harrigan to whom Craig gives the eponymous phone. John Lee Hancock, who wrote and directed the movie, will see his film drop as the fourth in a series of Netflix/King adaptations, which include the Thomas Jane-starring 1922, In The Tall Grass, and Gerald's Game, the vehicle featuring Carla Gugino and written and directed by Mike Flanagan. The trailer begins with Mr. Harrigan narrating how Craig is a far different person now than when he and Mr. Harrigan first met over shots of Craig growing up into Jaeden Martell as he reads to Harrigan.
He asks the boy why he continues to visit, and Craig answers, “Because I enjoy our time together.” The next shot is of Craig giving Mr. Harrigan a brand new iPhone, pegging the movie as a set sometime around 2007. Craig gets bullied at school and then asks Mr. Harrigan if anyone ever tried to take advantage of him and how he dealt with it. “Harshly,” Harrigan says.
Harrigan dies and Craig slips the phone into his pocket at the funeral. Afterwards, when he gets beaten up, he places a call to Harrigan's voicemail and tells his former friend what happened. Speaking with Harrigan's housekeeper, he mentions that Harrigan was a good man, though the housekeeper adds that you didn’t want to be on his bad side.
When the bully dies, Craig feels guilty. When he starts getting broken text messages and calls back from a phone whose battery should be long gone, he knows things are getting serious. As his school counsellor tells him, “A person shouldn’t call out unless they want an answer.”
Mr. Harrigan's Phone debuts on Netflix on October 5th, 2022.
Source: Netflix/YouTube