Stephen King’s Best Adaptation of 21st Century Made Viewers Collapse: ‘Nearly Just Passed Out’
Thought Doctor Sleep and Pet Sematary were scary? This one is so much scarier.
Stephen King 's cinematic and literary legacies go hand in hand. Adaptations of the author's work have been appearing since his novels were first published. And few writers in history have had a comparable impact on pop culture.
However, more often than not, quantity does not mean quality, and many adaptations of the author's works (which he sells for a symbolic $1) turned out to be outright failures, passing over not only the mass audience, but also King's fans.
However, in 2017, a movie was released that can rightly be considered the best adaptation of King in the 21st century – Gerald's Game.
After eleven years of marriage, Jessie and Gerald's feelings have cooled and they try to rekindle the fire of passion by going to a country house for a weekend.
But Gerald's sexual play ends in tragedy – the man dies of a heart attack, and Jessie finds herself handcuffed to the bed all alone.
There is no one to turn to for help, the phone and bracelet keys are out of reach. Left alone with the ghosts of her past, Jessie tries to free herself on the worst and longest weekend of her life.
Gerald's Game is an intense thriller that takes less than a quarter of an hour to pick up at a fast pace, in which even a simple drinking process turns into an adrenaline rush, and the probability of salvation is not unconditional.
This is a horror movie in the best tradition of Mike Flanagan ( known to many viewers for such series as The Fall of the House of Usher and The Haunting of Hill House) – there are no boo-moments or CGI monsters, but the sounds in the depths of the house and the shadow in the corner of the room can easily make you break into a sweat.
And such a tense atmosphere made the audience not only sweat, but almost lose consciousness.
“Okay, I genuinely nearly just passed out. Gerald’s Game has been on pause for ten minutes. A film has never affected me like that before,” said X user Bigredsnackfoam.
Gerald's Game is not just a thriller about a woman who tries to get out of a seemingly hopeless situation. Jessie, although she finds herself alone with an empty room, communicates with voices in her head, plunges into the subconscious, returns to frightening memories and encounters a real night terror.
Moreover, the problem of the protagonist's loneliness throughout almost the entire movie is solved very elegantly – Carla Gugino, who plays the main role, does not mumble or talk to herself for a hundred minutes of the running time.
The main character’s interlocutors are her late husband, herself, her father, and a mysterious stranger who sneaks into the house in the dark of night.
Also, this is just a brilliant performance by Carla Gugino. One of the reasons why King disliked Kubrick's The Shining was the fact that the movie simplified the main character’s wife, Wendy, and made her weak. Gerald's Game is a movie that gives insight into the kind of women who actually inhabit King's worlds – the strong-willed ones.
Gerald's Game is a successful combination of what turns King's adaptations into hits. The movie scares you and makes you look back at the rustling sounds, it captivates you with the acting and the tension masterfully built by the director, there is room for both black humor and philosophical reflections.
Where to Stream Gerald’s Game?
Gerald’s Game is available to watch on Netflix.
Source: X