Mr. Harrigan’s Phone Plot Synopsis
Based on the Stephen King short story of the same name, this latest adaptation focuses on a young boy called Craig and his friendship with Mr. Harrigan, an elderly billionaire who hires Craig to read for him.
Craig is glad to read to Harrigan because he values the old man’s company but their relationship is cut short when the old man dies a few years later.
Craig is understandably distraught by his friend’s death but to remain connected to him, he messages Harrigan’s phone, which is buried with him in his coffin.
The grief-stricken teen doesn’t expect to get an answer from Harrigan – the guy is dead, after all – but when he starts getting cryptic texts from Harrigan’s phone, he realises the old man is reaching out to him from beyond the grave. Not only this but the ghost of Harrigan then starts wreaking vengeance on Craig’s enemies.
To break his connection to the spirit, Craig needs to let go of his phone. But is he able to hang up on his old friend, despite the change in their relationship? Let’s take a closer look at the movie:
How does Craig meet Harrigan?
The two meet at their local church after Harrigan hears Craig give a reading. Due to his failing eyesight, the old man hires Craig to read three books a week to him at his home. The young boy gladly agrees because Harrigan promises to pay him for his services. But over time, their relationship grows and Craig continues to visit Harrigan, not because of money but because of the bond they have formed together.
Craig continues to read to Harrigan over the next five years. On his birthday, Craig receives an iPhone from his widowed dad and he also receives a lottery ticket from Harrigan. This isn’t the first ticket the old man has bought him but on this occasion, Craig wins $3000. As a thank you for the gift, he uses some of his winnings to buy Harrigan a phone.
Is Harrigan interested in the phone?
Initially, no. He doesn’t see the point in having a smartphone and is worried that the phone will take over his life if he starts to use it.
But when Craig shows Harrigan how to access the stock market on the phone, his opinion changes. During Craig’s later visits, it becomes clear that the phone has taken hold of Harrigan, as the old man had predicted, as he spends more time scrolling through the internet than listening to Craig reading to him.
Not long after, tragedy strikes when Craig returns to Harrigan’s home for another reading session and finds the man dead in his chair.
It could be assumed their friendship is now over but the two are still able to communicate using their respective phones.
How can Harrigan talk to Craig?
Craig slips Harrigan’s phone into the dead man’s pocket while he is lying in his coffin. He does this so he can remain in contact with Harrigan, even though he doesn’t expect to get an answer when he messages the man as an outlet for his grief.
But Harrigan does answer and he sends Craig some cryptic messages. One message reads “C C C sT” but the meaning of this is never fully explained. Still, the messages are the least of Craig’s problems.
At the school dance, Craig has a nasty encounter with Kenny, the school bully, and the young thug knocks Craig to the ground. Later, Craig sends a voicemail to Harrigan’s phone detailing his experiences. Not long after, Kenny is involved in a freak accident and is found dead. Bizarrely, his body is found in the position that Craig’s body was in after he was pummeled by the bully.
Craig suspects the ghost of Mr. Harrigan killed Kenny and when he later finds out Harrigan had an evil side, he starts to believe his suspicions were correct.
Does Harrigan kill again?
Craig is unwilling to delete Harrigan’s number, despite the violent incident that took place after leaving the voicemail. However, he replaces his phone with a new one and puts his old phone in a shoebox and stores it away.
Years pass and because Craig hasn’t been able to communicate with Harrigan on the old phone, no further deaths take place.
But while at journalism college, Craig learns of the tragic death of his beloved Biology teacher, Ms. Hart. She was killed in a road accident caused by a drunk driver called Deane Whitmore.
When Deane is let off lightly by the judge at his court hearing, Craig is angered, and he returns home to retrieve his old phone. He leaves Harrigan another voicemail asking the man’s ghost to kill Deane. Not long after, Deane is found dead in the shower at the rehab centre where he was ordered to stay. He died by choking on half a bar of soap which, it turns out, was Ms. Hart’s soap of choice when she was still alive.
Craig freaks out when he hears about Deane’s death, despite being technically involved. Eaten up by his guilt, he decides it’s time to say a final goodbye to Harrigan.
Does Craig hang up on Harrigan?
Craig visits Harrigan’s grave to apologize for making his murderous requests. He then runs to the nearby lake and throws his old phone away, thus ending the connection between himself and the dead man’s spirit.
He pauses for a moment and contemplates throwing away his current phone too. But as is the case for many of us, he struggles to let go of the device that has taken hold of his life and decides to keep it.
What does CCC sT mean?
As I mentioned earlier, this was never explained. But it might be that the letters stand for ‘Craig, stop!’
What does this mean? Well, Harrigan may have been asking Craig to stop making requests of him while he was trying to rest in peace from within his grave. Or he may have been reminding Craig that vengeance wasn’t the answer to his grievances. It might also be that he was telling Craig to give up his reliance on his smartphone.
Whatever the case, let’s just hope Craig never retrieved the phone to awaken Harrigan’s spirit again. As Stephen King once wrote, ‘sometimes dead is better.’
Read More: Mr Harrigan’s Phone Movie Review
I’m going with door number 3!
The cell phone taken by the strange man!
The text is a warning about the 3 letter organization. Don’t put too much info into your messages.
The kid didn’t do it (proximity to events)
And the guy in the garage CO2.
Why want the teacher protected(side bar)?
Tombstone coincidence toss us off because the writer knows we’d be wasting time on Bing you know …binging! Lol
No ghosts just a billionaire and his ex three digit org body guard who can listen in on Craig’s conversations as Mr. H had an invested $800k stake in the kids future !
What happened to Mr. Harrigans Mirror? Craig clearly stuffed it in his pocket and Mr. Harrigans associate told him he has something of Mr. Harrigans. Could that be the reason for a spiritual following of Mr. Harrigan?
CIACCIA= CIA and CCIA
Central
Intelligence
Agency
+
Computer and
Communications
Industry
Association
This is a very interesting thread. Lots of different perspective. I do believe Craig did all the killings and that he dissociates into this guiltess person who takes care of his enemies with haste whenever he is emotionally triggered. 🤔
Did anyone else notice there is a ‘satan’ motive? The first two numbers on the scratch were 6 and 6. I know it was not the lucky one, but if it was it would be 666. Also, the image on the scratch was Devil. I have an opinion that Mr. Harrigan was satan himself. At the beginning of the movie, Craig said: ‘He could have chosen someone older who can read better than me, but for some reason he picked me. I think he picked him cause he was young and innocent.
We are talking about this movie which makes it a great movie. The gravestone holds the answer of which may remain a mystery.
I think it’s Craig, he did all the murderer, remember for kid thay bullied him at school to clean his boots,,, n when he died we can see polishing item on his mouth n his hand,,,
And second dude that soak with soap where only Craig n the teacher knows about when they talk on class.
Craig do not remember what his done to them, it’s because lost of his mother n he got something mentally break when he get angry or feeling lost for someone that really mean on his live.
As you can see on car when he cries, Craig actually know he is the killer, that time after talk to employee that he gave 200$ n talk how that dude dies n Craig know before employee finish his sentence.
Feeling guilty because craig always think that Mr. H is the killer, he throw away his 4g on Lake coz he doesn’t want to make any accused Mr. H did that murderers.
And message that left on phone is Mr. H try to reminding Craig to stop what his doing (murderer), because Mr. H doesn’t want Craig to be like him, “everything he touch died” just like newspaper say.
In the end at graveyard, Craig try to let it go everything at mother tombstone, he wants to reedem n let her go. In that way Craig can find peace in his heart.
Hey, thanks for your thoughts. You raise some very interesting points so I would be interested to see if other people share your opinions. It’s good that the movie is being widely discussed but until Stephen King or the filmmakers reveal their intent, we might never get a clear answer as to all of the movie’s mysteries.
It’s obvious what kind of message this film refers to..
Phone makes us to search for answers to our questions in which we are willing to believe even before we have read it.. When he Google searched for “Harrigan”, Craig was subconsciously ready to believe that Harrigan was hard, tough and a bad man.. So when he read about it and find ” Everything Harrigan touches die” he with no aware, implanted this thought in his mind without wondering what if it’s a rumor or not..
Craig feels guilty about his mum’s death and by default, he feels guilty about everything that makes him suffer loneliness, so he relies on what could puts end to his misery and isolate him from the real world ” PHONE”..(all students at the court in the school is an icon of what is happening today )
Every since he went googling he started to search for what he wanted to hear and believe which doesn’t really have to be true, till what Harrigan said happened at the end “Craig paid 200$ to get informations that he didn’t find on Google “, so by time you will not have what you addicted to FOR FREE..
That’s my personal opinion concerning this case ndeath happens for many reasons ” the teacher said that kenny made troubles everywhere, school, home, etc.. So maybe some kid that happened to be bullied by kenny in the same way that happened to Craig, decided to kill him, why not??
We all know what damage can bullying make to a person..
On the other hand” Din” happened to be a cause of a lot of accidents before, so why not thinking about someone killing him because of that and this soap happens to be at the rehab?? After all, the teacher said that this soap is available, it’s not like a fancy and rare one that makes it a sign to anything..
We would be able to think about this options if and only IF informations weren’t delivered to us before even asking questions, in the way that makes u believe what they want you to believe..
Each one of you searched for an explanation to the end of the film, and by reading one comment after another, some are ready to believe all of them and others are searching for what suits their needs.. Eventually we all search for answers way beyond the truth…
Now if there wasn’t internet, Google or a way to find an answer that isn’t yours, what would you think about everything, what would be your opinion ? If there wasn’t a way to feed your curiosity but your own voice and thoughts, will you still be thinking that dead Harrigan is rolling over in his grave because of a cell phone or that the cell phone used in the real world with the living ones, and its power makes us believe such things so that we keep using it is the hero here ?
Who agrees with me??
In the movie, Craig slips the phone into Mr H jacket pocket at the funeral. As Craig is saying goodbye he is interrupted by a Man that we haven’t seen since or before. I think this man does Mr H bidding both professionally and personally. As Craig researched Mr H he found headlines about killing and death yet Mr H is a free man. I think it was the Man that took the phone and ‘protected’ Craig over the years.
N.B I have not read the story
That’s quite possible, thanks for your thoughts.
thanks Matt, I will check that out.
I think as well it was Craig. He was schizophrenic and he did both killing and explained to himself with it was Mr Harrigan. Mr Harrigan didn’t even know about the soap.
It’s was his mom the whole time. Look at the three tombstones in front of hers. CCC S t
I believe Mr Harrigntin had the gift to harm people supernaturally. If you remember he killed dusty for stealing and not apologising.
At the time Mr harrington was still alive. Amd dusty wrote FUH on the door before he killed himself due to carbon monoxide.
So it shows Mr Harrignton had so e powers. I think the source of his powers was in th room he didnt want Craig to enter.
Hey, thanks for your thoughts. I hadn’t considered that meaning but it sounds plausible.
I thought the headstone was definitely part of a message as it matches the texts. I’m not sure if this was in the book but Mr Harrington was worried about the dangers of cell phones and was trying to figure out the catch. Then come the texts cccaa and then the headstone CIACCIA. That reads CIA two times and appears to be a subtle message from producers that cell phones = CIA. There are conspiracy theorists who have believed this theory for years so it could be a dig at them or a producers actual belief. Or it could be nothing lol.
Thanks for that Emily. I think you may be right 🙂
The headstone clearly shown in the movie a couple of times was someone named “Ciaccia” (I believe that was the spelling)…it just doesn’t seem to be a coincidence. Am I reading more into it? Lol
You all have it all wrong! He did it (killed the bully and the alcoholic) and believed that it was mr. Harrigan… all because he never dealt with the loss of him mom. He imagining the phone ringing in the grave. He believed that Mr Harrigan did it so he wouldn’t have to accept his own mental illness. Not talking to his dad, seeing him dead mom in the rear view mirror and.. in the end… asking him mom for forgivenesss (I’m so sorry mom) and then washing his hands clean.
I think it’s possible that it’s also his mother watching over him, she, although loved her son, was a “unholy spirit” that felt a need to continue to protect her son, and it wasn’t until he was able to have closure with her and finally visit her grave that she was finally able to allow him to protect himself and move on. The flower crown falling when he picked up the phone for the second time, forcing him to remember her again after forgetting for awhile while in college, and the flashback he has of her with her eyes somewhat glossy, is somewhat suggestive that she is tied into it.
Craig has a problem in letting go of those he love as exemplified by him not visiting his mother’s grave because according to him, “it will mean goodbye” and by him keeping in touch with Harrigan even after his death. He also felt powerless outside the halls of Harrigan’s home (as mentioned by Craig himself). This created a rift in his psyche thus giving life to another personality that was triggered when Harrigan made Craig promise to “dispatch enemies hasty and without an iota of guilt” and was unleashed when Harrigan died. Craig briefly met his alter ego at the funeral (the hulking man at the entrance). Craig’s alter ego answers his own texts and surely he “dispatched all his enemies with haste and without an iota of guilt.” Although Craig’s real persona feels this guilt and fear, the alter ego is so strong and formidable that it operates seamlessly to satisfy control. To wit, It probably drove itself from Boston to Dean’s rehab.
I don’t know what it means but the grave marker wasn’t in the book, so that was added by production.
Interesting observation. Thanks for that!
I believe its an unholy spirit, vengeful spirt. I dont believe it was Mr. Harrigan an all. At the end of the movie a head stone appears near his mothers and Mr. Harrigan. The headstone has last name Ciaccia, the initials sent to him on the cell phone. Juat a perceptive hunch.