Gerald's Game

Okay, so, we’re all in agreement Mike Flanagan is one of the best modern horror directors, right? I mean, Absentia, Oculus, Hush … now this. Filming the Stephen King novel long thought unfilmable. And making it SMOKE. A couple whose marriage is on the rocks go to the woods for a weekend of trying to rekindle the spark. A sex game goes wrong, Gerald ends up dead of a heart attack, and Jessie is handcuffed to a bed. How could this go an hour forty five? Psychology, my friend. This is a psychological horror movie, and an acting tour de force. And while there are many good performances, this movie is anchored and owned by Carla Gugino, who just ROCKS this thing. Jessie is a woman who was traumatized in her adolescence and the psychological scars run deep and warp her adulthood. Handcuffed to the bed, she’s forced to reckon with them, and it’s here Carla shines like a supernova. She plays two versions of Jessie, one real and one imaginary. The imaginary one is steely, focused, poised. The real one is petrified, not only from the situation she’s in, but how other events in life have brought her here and why she’s paralyzed to do anything about it. Jessie plans and schemes and fights, especially that last one, with visions of herself, her dead husband, her past, a feral dog, and more, and range of emotions Carla Gugino goes through will tear at you. Her acting here is small and intimate and personal, and it is memorable in all the best ways. And Flanagan’s direction gets the most out of it, putting the camera where it needs to be, letting silence often be the score, giving the movie far more depth both visually and metaphorically than you’d think it could have. He also streamlines the book, trimming away characters or merging them, giving the story a tighter focus and greater drive. I’m not gonna spoil any plot points here. This is one you just gotta watch to really get it all, but seriously, you do need to watch it already. This is a top 5 King adaptation, maybe the finest moment of Carla Gugino’s career, and more evidence that Mike Flanagan knows how to direct excellent horror.