A serial killer and a Broadway lyricist: two versions of Ethan Hawke in theaters now

toggle caption Robin Cymbaly/Universal

Losing a friend and a career is devastating in Blue Moon, the drama starring Ethan Hawke the same week he plays a serial killer in Black Phone 2. Both are in theaters now, along with Aziz Ansari's feature directorial debut, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, a gambling story from the director of Conclave, and a tale of retribution from a formerly imprisoned Iranian director. Here are your choices in cineplexes.

Black Phone 2

In theaters Friday

YouTube

In the 2021 film The Black Phone, Ethan Hawke played a child abductor/serial killer who hid behind a demonic mask. In Black Phone 2, four years have passed since Finney, played by Mason Thames, escaped the Grabber's basement by killing him. Finn's in high school now, and struggling, because: trauma. His little sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), whose psychic visions helped the cops find Finn in the original movie, is being tortured by dreams of the Grabber murdering boys at a remote Christian camp.

Sponsor Message

Together, because this is a horror movie and it's the kind of decision people only make in horror movies, Finn and Gwen decide to visit the camp in question — in the middle of a blizzard. Ethan Hawke's Grabber is back for the sequel — and if you're asking how, given that the character is dead, you really need to see more horror movies. Grabbers gonna grab, even from beyond the grave.