Mr. Harrigan’s Phone Movie Review [Netflix]

The movie was set in 2003 in which a boy named Craig (Colin O'Brien as young Craig & Jaeden Martell as Craig Poole) took on a part-time job after school to read books to an old and retired businessman, John Harrigan (Donald Sutherland), three times a week. Over the course of several years, the two formed a unique friendship. At some point, Craig received an iPhone for Christmas from his dad, and, appreciating the advanced technology at that time, decided to also buy an iPhone for Mr. Harrigan. The old man resisted it at first but eventually liked the convenience in brought.

As the years passed, Mr. Harrigan’s health deteriorated because of old age and, one morning, Craig found him lifeless. During Mr. Harrigan’s funeral, Craig slipped the old man’s phone into his coffin.

One morning, Craig received an odd text message from Mr. Harrigan but dismissed it later as a bug. Craig was soon bothered by a school bully which drove him to call Mr. Harrigan’s number. The next morning, the bully was found without life. Craig was panicked with the incident, so bought a new phone and hid his old phone in his cabinet.

In college, he received a sad news that his favorite teacher passed on because of an accident involving a drunk driver. Distraught, Craig went home, took his old phone, and called Mr. Harrigan’s number. The next day, the suspect in the accident was found in the shower, deceased because of his own doing.

Scared out of his wits, Craig returned home to say sorry to Mr. Harrigan in his grave and threw his phone away in the local quarry.

Overall, I found the movie to be delightful to watch although a bit slow. I was expecting it to be a horror movie with all the jumpscares or eerie atmosphere, but it was not an entirely scary movie of that sort. It was more like a coming-of-age film about a unique and enduring friendship between a boy and an old man. There were moments in the movie in which I felt I was watching "Stand By Me" because of the nostalgic feeling the movie evoked.

Based on the plot above, there are only two chilling scenes in the movie (if you can even call it chilling). Nevertheless, I appreciated that it had the general feel of a 90s teen movie. It was sort of uplifting and it left a largely good feeling to its audience.

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