Gerald's Game
A film from this decade
(2017)
For a film about a woman tied up for 85% of the movie, Gerald's Game does a pretty good job of not letting you get bored. There are moments of slowness that are tied to character interactions, but as a whole, there is a surprising amount of tension and creepiness to have in this Stephen King adaptation.
Jessie and Gerald go to a secluded get away cabin in the middle of the woods to reinvigorate their sex life. Gerald decides to bring some handcuffs to spice things up. Jessie goes along with it at first, but quickly becomes uncomfortable and wants it to stop. Unfortunately for her, this is when Gerald has a heart attack and dies. She is now stuck, handcuffed to a bed with no way of getting out. To make matters worse, there is a stray dog nearby who is getting really hungry.
King adaptations are always hit or miss and this year has seen an explosion of King adaptations hitting us. Again, some good (It) and some bad (The Dark Tower). Gerald's Game is one that I suspect will be barely remembered, but if it is, will be remembered of fondly. There is nothing spectacular with Mike Flanagan's adaptation here, it merely serves as a faithful adaptation of a quick and short story.
Jessie's sanity starts to slip and she sees her husband walking and talking, despite his dead body lying on the floor at the foot of the bed. This offers up some breathing room and character interaction for our lead actress, Carla Gugino. Eventually we are treated to some traumatic flashbacks of Jessie, that helps explain why her sanity slips so easily. She is a broken person to begin with and Gugino manages to sell that in her facial expressions due to her lack of ability to move.
What would a King adaptation be without a bit of crying worthy horror, right? Gerald's Game has bits of gross sequences, mainly involving the dog or her attempts to get free from the handcuffs. I cringed a bit at the latter. There is also a bit of mystery added in with a third character; The Moonlight Man. Is he real, or is she imagining him?
I think a leaner run time would have helped this film, losing a segment here or there where her husband is just talking nonsense to her. Also, maybe one more sequence with her trying to outsmart her current situation. I feel like she could have thought her way out a bit more, whether that would have been successful or not didn't matter, it should have been the effort. Yet, the film is a success in my eyes and another well done genre picture from Flanagan.
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