Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- eerie
- paranoid
- disturbing
- late night horror
- halloween viewing
What critics said
Critics generally acknowledge effective scares while finding the film derivative of earlier Asian supernatural horror and overly reliant on familiar visual frights.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Ji-won's changed cellular number is linked to disturbing calls, deaths, and the vanished Jin-hee.
Ji-won's investigation exposes dark secrets surrounding Jin-hee, her obsessive attachment, and the affected family.
The teenager's disturbed obsession with a man who ended their relationship becomes central to the haunting.
Ji-won repeatedly sees and hears a teenager playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata on the piano.
Films like Phone, and why
Ringu
supernatural horror built around ominous technology, ghostly intrusion, and escalating visual frights
Ju-On: The Grudge
asian supernatural horror emphasizing cursed objects, traumatic secrets, and eerie apparitions
The Eye
slow-building ghost mystery involving a haunted medium of communication and tragic backstory
Movie Details
- Director
- Ahn Byeong-ki
- Release Date
- 2002-07-26
- Runtime
- 103 min
- Rating
- 6.1 / 10 (140)
Cast
- Ha Ji-won
- Kim Yu-mi
- Choi Woo-jae
- Choi Ji-yeon
- Eun Seo-woo
- Choi Jung-yoon
- Jeong Seong-hwan
- Lee Seo-yeon
- Park Min-gwan
- Kim Gyeong-ryong
Common questions
- What is Phone about?
- A journalist investigating a cursed cell-phone number uncovers a possessive ghost whose unresolved secrets invade the lives of a young family.
- What is Phone like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Phone as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Phone violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Phone as mild.
- What did critics think of Phone?
- Critics generally acknowledge effective scares while finding the film derivative of earlier Asian supernatural horror and overly reliant on familiar visual frights.
- Which films are like Phone?
- Films with a similar feel include Ringu, Ju-On: The Grudge, and The Eye.
- How long is Phone?
- Phone runs 103 minutes.
