Mr. Harrigan’s Phone ending explained: What happens to Craig in the end? (spoilers)

Jaeden Martell and Donald Sutherland star in Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, an adaptation of Stephen King’s novella of the same name from his 2020 If It Bleeds collection. The ominous drama film is now out on Netflix! John Lee Hancock writes and directs the movie.

Spoilers ahead for Mr. Harrigan’s Phone

What happens when a teenager befriends a reclusive billionaire and gifts him with an iPhone? Well, nothing that out of the ordinary at first… but then Mr. Harrigan dies, and Craig slips the phone into Mr. Harrigan’s coffin. Strange things start happening, and people begin dying around Craig—all connected to Mr. Harrigan’s phone and how Craig uses it.

Find out what happens at the end of the movie below.

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone ending explained: Was Mr. Harrigan killing people?

Yes, the movie heavily implies that Mr. Harrigan is somehow responsible for killing people like Craig’s bully Kenny Yankovich (Cyrus Arnold) and the drunk driver responsible for Ms. Hart’s (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) death. Not only did those deaths occur after Craig called Mr. Harrigan’s phone, but they died under mysterious circumstances with specific details that only Craig could have known.

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone ending explained: What was Mr. Harrigan trying to text Craig?

Throughout the movie, Craig receives ominous texts from Mr. Harrigan’s phone, usually just a smattering of letters that equates to something akin to gibberish. It’s not until the end of the movie that Craig realizes Mr. Harrigan was trying to tell Craig to “stop,” which is why he sent “C-C-C” and then “S-T.”

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone ending explained: What was in Mr. Harrigan’s secret room?

There is a room inside Mr. Harrigan’s manor that Craig never enters. The one time he asks about it, the billionaire tells him it’s a room filled with secrets. At the movie’s end, Craig finally goes into the room and discovers the “secret” is that Mr. Harrigan also lost his mother at a very young age. He knew what loneliness felt like as a kid, just like Craig. He reached out to Craig as a boy at church and hired him because he felt that kinship and connection.

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone ending explained: What happens to Craig at the end of the movie?

The movie doesn’t have the most exciting or climactic ending. After using the phone to get Ms. Hart’s killer taken care of, Craig goes to the cemetery where his mom and Mr. Harrigan are buried. He apologizes to both of them and asks Mr. Harrigan if his texts pleaded with him to stop because Craig was hurting him or because Mr. Harrigan wanted Craig to stop hurting himself.

Craig ultimately throws his old phone in the lake (this is the phone he decided to keep instead of donating at the phone store and the phone he was using to contact Mr. Harrigan), but he can’t quite bring himself to get rid of his personal phone. In the voiceover, Craig notes that we’re all wedded to our phones, but when he dies, he wants to go out with empty pockets.

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is now streaming on Netflix.