Written by: Stephen King (based on the novel by), Jeff Howard, Mike Flanagan
Directed by: Mike Flanagan
Starring: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood, Henry Thomas
Rated: TV-MA
Plot
On a getaway weekend at a remote cabin, a woman's husband dies while she is handcuffed to the bed with little hope of escape. She must battle memories, hallucinations, and physical barriers to survive.
Verdict
If you're squeamish, watch out for that scene towards the end. While this primarily takes place in just the bedroom, that doesn't constrain the movie. It's dire and intense. This isn't just an escape movie, we delve into emotional baggage and how the past shapes you, not always for the better. You could easily call the movie a metaphor.
Watch it.
Review
This is based on Stephen King's novel from 1992. From the premise I wondered if this would follow a similar plot of the Ryan Reynolds movie Buried (2010). That was surprisingly good despite taking place in primarily just a coffin. Gerald's Game is not attempting the same gimmick.
Opening with an overhead shot of the couple packing, it sets up a dynamic that's only reinforced when they encounter a stray dog en route to their cabin. Jessie is compassionate while Gerald is controlling. We see that in full force when he pulls out the handcuffs. As he notes, they are the real deal.
I've seen the handcuff thing in movie before, but this isn't playing it for laughs. There is some weird psychology behind Gerald's motivations. There may be weird psychology on both sides. You get the feeling that this is his idea, but she quickly calls him out on his weird game. He's less than pleased.
This is where we dive head first into the main plot. Jessie becomes trapped. She's handcuffed to the bed alone, save for her dead husband. There's also a dog. The movie had established the dog and I was thinking that's a pretty hungry dog, but according to Google, dogs have eaten parts of their dead masters.
As Jessie panics, we get a great dynamic of an encouraging and confidant version of herself while she also imagines how condescending Gerald would be. Gugino does a great job of fully inhabiting two completely different head spaces.
I wondered how this movie would fill ninety minutes, and we delve into Jessie's past. There's a reason she married a controlling man like Gerald. We burrow into Jessie's head, and it isn't a pleasant place. She even envisions a demon type thing which seemed out of place, even for this movie. I get you see weird things when you're dying, but I was surprised to see that plot point comes full circle.
The pinnacle of this movie is her last ditch effort to escape. I won't tell you whether she does or not, but the attempt is graphic. This gambit might save her, but it could also kill her in the process. It's just an ugly scene. It's a level of graphic that rivals most anything I've seen.
You think this is just an escape story, but Jessie comes face to face with traumas of the present and past, unpacking a lot of emotional baggage. You could call it a metaphor, an escape from her trauma. Being a Stephen King adaptation, I assumed we'd get a twist and we certainly do.
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