Overlooked Gems: “Gerald’s Game” - A Netflix Thriller Worth Watching
In our weekly “Missed at the Box Office” column, we highlight films that, while not hitting Russian cinemas, deserve your attention.
After eleven years of marriage, Jessie and Gerald find their relationship cooling. In an attempt to reignite the spark, they escape for a weekend to a secluded country house. Unfortunately, Gerald’s amorous advances take a tragic turn – he suffers a heart attack, leaving Jessie handcuffed to the bed, utterly alone. With no one to call for help, the phone and handcuff keys out of reach, and the ominous forest amplifying every unsettling sound, Jessie is trapped. Confronted by the ghosts of her past, she must fight for her life and sanity during the most terrifying and drawn-out weekend of her life.
Mike Flanagan’s wife, actress Kate Siegel, is something of a good luck charm for the director, appearing in almost all of his films. In “Gerald’s Game,” Siegel plays Jessie’s mother.
Stephen King’s banner year in film and television continues. Following the box-office success of “It” and the gritty drama of “Mr. Mercedes,” we can now add the psychological thriller “Gerald’s Game,” directed by Mike Flanagan (“Oculus,” “Before I Wake”). Although currently a Netflix exclusive, this is far from a made-for-TV movie. “Gerald’s Game” deserves a theatrical release and could well achieve cult status among King’s fans. While comparisons to the original novel are inevitable, and often unfavorable, the film impresses with its dramatic intensity, especially after the disappointment of “The Dark Tower” and the hasty cancellation of the “The Mist” series after its first season.
For those unfamiliar with the novel, “Gerald’s Game” is more than just a thriller about a woman escaping a seemingly impossible situation. It’s not “Buried” or “47 Meters Down.” Jessie, though confined to a room, interacts with voices in her head, delving into her subconscious, revisiting haunting memories, and confronting a true night terror. The film is elegantly executed, with Carla Gugino not simply muttering to herself for 100 minutes. Instead, her character engages in conversations with her deceased husband, her own inner self, her father, and a mysterious stranger who appears in the house under the cover of darkness.
Stephen King, after viewing a rough cut of the film, praised “Gerald’s Game” as a stunning, horrifying, and hypnotic film worthy of his novel.
Imperfections and Triumphs
Like any adaptation of a sprawling King novel, “Gerald’s Game” occasionally feels rushed, frantic, and disjointed. Jessie, for example, begins to “lose it” after only three hours of isolation, and dehydration transforms her into a withered skeleton in less than a day. The film’s pacing can be disconcerting, but it serves the purpose of condensing the vast array of events and emotions King subjected his protagonist to. While Jessie’s memories of her father sometimes feel like an artificial insertion, a fragment from a different film altogether, they don’t detract from the overall impact. After all, what wouldn’t one start thinking about when rendered immobile?
The underlying meaning of the protagonist’s suffering also feels somewhat superficial. Due to time constraints, some themes that readers grasp independently are explicitly stated in the film, particularly the comparison between physical and psychological shackles in marriage. The final five minutes of the film are rather chaotic and confusing, although they align with the author’s vision. Suddenly, the most understanding being in the world for Jessie is the one who terrifies everyone else. Yes, there’s a certain contrivance, but that’s a hallmark of King – he rarely populates his stories with characters without skeletons in their closets.
A Must-See Thriller
However, these criticisms are merely attempts to find fault where one should simply sit back and enjoy the show. “Gerald’s Game” is a tense thriller that establishes its premise in under fifteen minutes. Even the simple act of drinking water becomes an adrenaline-fueled puzzle, and the possibility of rescue cannot be immediately trusted. It’s a horror film in the best Flanagan tradition (we are witnessing the rise of a new master of the genre). There are no jump scares or CGI monsters, but the sounds from within the house and the shadows in the corners of the room can easily induce a cold sweat. Finally, it’s a tribute to female strength, which always finds a way out, even if it was suppressed in childhood and then covered with layers of tinsel and complexes for many years.
Final Verdict
“Gerald’s Game” is a successful blend of what makes King adaptations hits. The film is frightening and makes you look back at the rustles, it captivates with acting works and tension skillfully built by the director, there is a place for black humor and philosophical reflections. The movie turned out well, the audience should be satisfied, and Netflix is already preparing a new gift - in less than a month, another film based on the work of Stephen King, the horror drama “1922”, will be released on the platform. The game continues.