Stephen King is having a moment. The new adaptation of It was a success, with a sequel already green-lit for 2019. There's a tv show (which was just cancelled) based on his Mist novel, and several more adaptations of his novels are coming down the line. It's good to be the King right now. The latest adaptation of his is a Netflix production of Gerald's Game, directed and written by horror up-and-comer Mike Flanagan.
Gerald's Game follows Jessie (Carla Gugino, who I've had a crush on since I first saw Spy Kids when I was just a boy) and Gerald (Bruce Greenwood), a couple who's marriage has started to crumble. In an attempt to save their marriage, they decide to take a weekend vacation to a secluded lake house. While there, Gerald attempts a bondage/rape RP that involves cuffing Jessie's hands to the bed. Things don't pan out quite so well, and Gerald suffers a heart attack mid-game, leaving Jessie cuffed to the bed with no escape in sight. Jessie is going to have to fight off her growing mental instability, contend with dark secrets from her past, ward off a wild stray dog with a taste for flesh, and find some way out of the handcuffs if she is going to live to see another day.
Gerald's Game could not have been an easy novel to adapt to screen. It's set in one single location (the bedroom), and most of it takes place inside Jessie's mind as she hallucinates and has flashbacks. Jeff Howard and Mike Flanagan wrote the screenplay, and the material is handled very carefully. The film is still set almost entirely in the bedroom (except for a few flashbacks), and Jessie's inner dialogue is handled via hallucinations of herself and Gerald that have conversations with her about her dire situation. I haven't read the novel, so I can't speak to how accurate the film is....all I can say is that Flanagan has earned my respect for pulling off a difficult task well.
Carla Gugino is beautiful, likable and sympathetic as Jessie. She is an interesting character who slowly has her layers peeled away throughout the film as she deals with both her current situation and a dark event from her past that has haunted her her whole life. Bruce Greenwood is fantastic as Gerald, a man who has more to him than would first appear. He plays both the real Gerald and Jessie's hallucination of him. He manages to be very likable, and kind of scary and intimidating at times. They both easily carry the film, and put on memorable, fantastic performances. Henry Thomas (aka Elliot from E.T.) has a supporting role as Tom, Jessie's father who we only glimpse in flashbacks. It's a memorable and decidedly different performance from Thomas that will likely stick with me. Carel Struycken (aka Lurch from The Addam's Family movie) is freaky and memorable as The Moonlight Man, a mysterious, shadowy figure that may be death himself.
Not only can Mike Flanagan write, edit, and direct....but he also seems adept at discovering great talent inside young actors. In Oculus we got Annalise Basso and Garrett Ryan, in Ouija: Origin of Evil we got Lulu Wilson, and now in Gerald's Game we get Chiara Aurelia. Chiara Aurelia is a fifteen year old actress. In Gerald's Game she plays the twelve year old version of Jessie and puts on a memorable and affecting performance. She gets the chance to really show off her acting chops, and I was impressed. Hopefully, this is just the beginning for this young actress. I hope to see her in more things.
Michael Fimognari was in charge of cinematography (as he was for Oculus and Ouija: Origin of Evil), and he does a great job. The cinematography is beautiful a good deal of the time, like a scene during a total solar eclipse. As the eclipse is happening, we get to watch as the colors slowly alter and change, it's very impressive and quite pretty. There's another scene where the whole film takes on a vibrant, ghastly, almost neon-like red hue. Fimognari clearly has an eye for this kind of thing, and it seems that Flanagan and him make for a nice pair.
Gerald's Game runs at an hour and forty three minutes. For a film that takes place almost entirely in a bedroom, it feels a bit long. The film does slow down at points (some may say lags), but I found myself consistently engaged, invested, and interested in the proceedings. Mike Flanagan took what many considered to be an un-filmable novel and managed to make a film that is pretty damned good. I'd say Flanagan was the most impressive part of the production. You can feel the hard work and sweat he put into making this film. Gerald's Game isn't scary in the traditional horror sense (It's more psychological/mental horror), in fact it's more of an intimate character study that happens during a traumatic event. It's far from King's best adaptation, but Flanagan's hard work pays off in the end. Gerald's Game is a nice treat for King fans and makes for another nice calling card for Flanagan.
3.5 STARS
No comments:
Post a Comment