I’m a scaredy-cat. I’ll admit it. I’m an easy target for jump scares, no matter if I see them coming. Popcorn and drinks aren’t safe in my hands during movies because I’ve been known to throw them when I’m scared.

It should be no real surprise when I tell you that I spent most of the runtime of 2017’s It with my face covered by my hands or sweatshirt.

I anticipated much of the same level of horror and drama from Mr. Harrigan’s Phone. 

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is a Netflix original film that debuted in late September of 2022, written and directed by John Lee Hancock. The film is based on the work of Stephen King, though its craftsmanship is not of the same quality as its source material. 

This movie stars Donald Sutherland as the titular Mr. Harrigan, a recluse and mentor-like figure to the film’s main protagonist, Craig. Craig is played by Stephen King alum Jaeden Martell. Donald Sutherland dove into the complexities that made the ailing Mr. Harrigan a riddle. Throughout much of the first half, the audience doesn’t know why the town revered him other than that he was a wealthy and powerful businessman. Mr. Harrigan brings Craig into his home to read to him a few times a week as his eyesight fails, leading to them conversing and sharing stories, friendship, and phones.

As the movie goes on, we see more of who Mr. Harrigan actually is through his interactions with Craig. Sutherland is able to capture the reluctance of moving forward in a technologically advancing society that so many elderly exhibit. He is also able to bring the reserved warmth of a mentor or friend that makes the relationship between the two dynamic.

Jaeden Martell is an expert at portraying guilt and grief. Guilt and grief over Craig’s mother’s death is what ties him to Mr. Harrigan and leads to their eventual connection. Guilt and grief are what further unites them after Mr. Harrigan passes away, and Craig realizes he can use the phone he gave Mr. Harrigan for less than moral purposes. It is what drives Craig to act in almost every key event in his life, whether it is good or bad.

Martell and Sutherland drive the story forward, though other noteworthy actors were Kirby Howell-Baptiste who played Craig’s kindhearted science teacher, Cyrus Arnold who played the erratic bully Kenny Yankovitch, and Joe Tippett who played Craig’s father. 

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, while engaging, struggles with pacing. The first 1/3 – 1/2 of the film is spent in exposition and buildup to the main event: Mr. Harrigan’s death. While the exposition is needed to truly understand the intricacies of both Craig and Mr. Harrigan, it lacks the buildup of suspense one would normally associate with a Stephen King piece.

From the halfway point on, the suspense finally starts to build. There are cryptic text messages to decipher, we learn more about Mr. Harrigan’s turbulent past, and slightly gruesome but well framed deaths start to pile up. The much-anticipated suspense won’t last for long. A brief time jump forward lulls the story back, which left me wondering how exactly this story would end. The film is more confusion and puzzlement than the build-up of suspense that I assume the studio was trying to achieve.

The film is classified as Horror/Drama, but it leans more into drama rather than horror. Though I didn’t watch this through my fingers like other Stephen King movies, it did leave me pleasantly perplexed while trying to figure out how this story would end. This movie is perfect for anyone who wants to get into the Halloween spirit without throwing their popcorn.