What’s it rated? PG-13
When? 2022
Where’s it showing? Netflix
Craig (Jaeden Martell) grows to admire his employer, Mr. Harrigan (Donald Sutherland), whom he reads to from the billionaire’s magnificent library. The two grow close, forming a bond over the words on the pages they share every afternoon. Craig teaches the old man to use a cellphone and the two talk about lifeāthe little things and the big. Eventually Mr. Harrigan passes away and Craig is crushed.
At school he is a loner, shy and bullied. He’s lost his best friend, odd as the pairing may be. At the funeral, Craig slips the phone into Mr. Harrigan’s pocket in a last-ditch attempt to hold onto his pal. Like many do when they’ve lost someone, Craig sends a message to the buried man’s phone in hopes of a bit of healing. Things turn sinister though, and soon Craig suspects that the weird texts he keeps receiving from Mr. H’s phone are something more than a hacker or a glitch, and odd happenings seem to be tied to them.
This is a Stephen King short story, and unfortunately it falls the way many film adaptations of King’s work do: It fails to deliver the nuance that King builds into his world. That said, Martell and Sutherland pull off great performances, and the film, while flawed, is an interesting watch. Worth it if you have Netflix. (104 min.) ā
This article appears in Mar 2-12, 2023.