The Black Phone: parents' guide

A father beats his young daughter with a belt in one long, harsh scene. A boy pummels a bully's face into a bloody mess, gangs of bullies kick other kids, a man is killed with an axe, someone is strangled, and ghostly victims show bloody wounds.

Movieguide counts about 28 obscenities, half or more of them f-words, many from kids, plus a c-word and c--ksucker. Slurs include an anti-Latino insult and an anti-gay slur, and there is a middle-finger gesture.

No sex or nudity beyond shirtless males, and only a sweet crush for romance. There are occasional crude sexual references in the kids' insults; the UK censor found no strong hint of sexual threat from the abductor.

The children's father is an alcoholic who drinks heavily and passes out among empty bottles, and a supporting character snorts cocaine. Adults also drink socially at a ballgame.

Sustained dread as a boy is held in a soundproof basement by a masked killer, with jump scares, the ghosts of murdered boys and a captor who waits to beat him. A girl's dreams show the abductions.