Stephen King’s short story for Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is being given the adaptation treatment over at Netflix. This one is giving a young, bullied kid a texting pal from beyond the grave. The trailer which begins as a sweet tale complete with White Stripes I Can Tell That We Are Gonna Be Friends, culminates in something much more sinister.
King adaptations are all the rage with a ton of them made in the past couple of years and even more coming in the next year. Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is an interesting choice for an adaptation because it is somewhat sweet combined with notes of tension. But, at its core are King’s ideas of loss and not letting go. A touching story about processing grief and rage.
The synopsis for Mr. Harrigan’s Phone goes like this:
When Craig, a young boy living in a small town (Jaeden Martell) befriends Mr. Harrigan, an older, reclusive billionaire (Donald Sutherland), the two begin to form an unlikely bond over their love of books and reading. But when Mr. Harrigan sadly passes away, Craig discovers that not everything is dead and gone and strangely finds himself able to communicate with his friend from the grave through the iPhone in this supernatural coming-of-age story that shows that certain connections are never lost.
The film stars Donald Sutherland, Jaeden Martell, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Joe Tippett, Colin O’Brien, Cyrus Arnold, Thomas Francis Murphy and Peggy J. Scott.
Mr. Harrigan’s Phone arrives on Netflix beginning on October 5.