Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is a thriller in which an iPhone serves as the antagonist. It is one of the few King adaptations to fully represent the original work.
There are a variety of memorable monsters and antagonists in Stephen King’s books. Pop culture is permeated with characters like the man in black, Pennywise the Clown, and Jack Torrance. The antagonist in the most recent film adaptation, however, isn’t a person at all; instead, it’s an item. A terrifying tale concerning smartphone addiction is Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.
Mr. Harrigan’s Phone spoilers are there in this review (the book and the movie).
Based on the same-titled short story from Stephen King’s 2020 collection If It Bleeds, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone (written and directed by John Lee Hancock) tells the tale of a young boy named Craig who lives with a single father. Craig is played by Jaeden Martell, who is probably best known for another King adaptation, the modern It movies (Joe Tippett). After his mother passes away, Craig accepts a job reading aloud books for an elderly billionaire (Donald Sutherland) who, for whatever reason, resides in a small New England town where he has no family or professional connections.
The film begins in 2003 and then fast-forwards four years to a moment when Craig gets intensely fixated on a specific object of desire: the brand-new iPhone that has just been released. His high school is experiencing a smartphone craze of such proportions that the cafeteria tables are set up with one set of tables for Apple supporters and another set for Razr devotees.
(King fans reading Fairy Tale, his most recent book, may have déjà vu since that tale similarly centres on a little kid who loses his mother and ends up working for an odd old guy. Fortunately, the plots change from there.)
Craig and Mr. Harrigan develop a silent bond throughout that time. They converse about books and life during their frequent meetings, and Mr. Harrigan sends him a card every four months that contains a scratch-off ticket. In addition to receiving that iPhone from his father so he can sit at the hip table for Christmas 2007, Craig also wins a cool $3,000 on a scratch-off card from Mr. Harrigan after years of losing. Craig buys his boss an iPhone with some of the money he receives as a token of his thanks.
Mr. Harrigan is peculiar in that he has a kind of technophobia. Because he knows he’ll spend too much time with them, he doesn’t even maintain a radio or TV in the house. He is a retired financial whiz, yet he still keeps busy by trading stocks. Mr. Harrigan is astounded when his young employee shows him the iPhone stock app, which has statistics that move in almost real-time. His preoccupation turns into something of an obsession once he finds he can access The Wall Street Journal stories as soon as they are published rather than having to wait for the newspaper the following day. (He also makes several predictions that seem accurate now, such as the development of tracking software, hoaxes, and paywalls.)
The death of Mr. Harrigan occurs around a third of the way through the film; this is technically a spoiler, so be advised; however, it is very obviously orchestrated from the beginning and also appears in the trailers. Before his friend is buried, Craig performs a weird, impromptu act in which he places his friend’s iPhone in the grave, ensuring that his smartphone addiction will endure in the afterlife. And this is where Mr. Harrigan’s Phone transforms from a reflective tale about a generational friendship into a suspenseful thriller with conceivable paranormal components.
Craig is tortured by an obsessive bully while also mourning the loss of his pal (Cyrus Arnold). Mr. Harrigan was the type of guy Craig would consult for guidance in precisely these circumstances; he was a loyal friend but also an utterly ruthless businessman who knew how to prevent people from taking advantage of him, which made matters even more irritating. Craig calls Mr. Harrigan’s phone to leave a message even though it is buried far underground, and then strange things start to happen. He receives bizarre texts from Mr. Harrigan’s phone, and gradually it seems as though the requests he makes for his deceased friend are beginning to be fulfilled. There is a mysterious hand that administers brutal justice. As the story goes on, this persists in even more dramatic ways.
The way Mr. Harrigan’s Phone gradually increases its scares is one of the factors that contribute to its success. It’s not the typical kind of horror with tonnes of ghosts and monsters; instead, it turns the smartphone, which we all know all too well, into a possible source of terror. The stress in the film comes from the uncertainty of each new ring, which makes you worry about what might occur. Additionally, it lacks the bloat that characterises most King novel adaptations. It’s a brief story that almost exactly fits into the film’s 100 minute running length.
The ending of the film is its one weak point, which should be emphasised is also true of the story it is based on. The plot thickens and thickens before sort of fizzling out. The conclusion is appropriate in some ways since it leaves room for interpretation on the supernatural issues. But it also gives the impression that something is left undone. The conclusion of an otherwise fast-moving thriller falls hollow because it stubbornly refuses to reveal its biggest mysteries.
The story Mr. Harrigan’s Phone might not be as well-known as some of King’s more famous works. It’s difficult to picture it influencing society the way Carrie or It did. It’s also a fantastic display for some of the author’s lesser-known talents, such as character development and adding a fresh layer of dread to ordinary things or situations. You might not be instantly terrified by Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, but the next time my phone rang, I jumped.
