Drama

Film review of Gerald’s Game (2017), the drama about a married couple’s sex game gone wrong when the husband suddenly dies. Adapted from the novel by Stephen King, directed by Mike Flanagan.

Synopsis

Married couple Jessie (Carla Gugino) and Gerald (Bruce Greenwood) take a break and, at his instigation, engage in a sex game that goes horribly wrong when, under the influence of Viagra, he suffers a heart attack and dies.

Jessie is left handcuffed to the bed leaving her three battles: formulating her escape, stopping a stray dog that’s entered the holiday home from eating her husband and addressing the inner demons that conjure up hallucinations of herself, Gerald and the mysterious, deformed Moonlight Man (Carel Struycken).

Review by @Reelreviewer

‘Some games you play, some games you survive’ goes the tagline for this marital bed psychodrama/horror. You could also say some books should make a movie and others should not.

This brave stab at filming the Stephen King book many thought was unfilmable turns out to be an odd, not always believable (and sometimes preposterous) but is an engaging and brilliantly acted piece from director and co-writer Flanagan (Doctor Sleep, 2019).

Admittedly, I haven’t read the source work, but with the emphasis in the adaptation on conversation and internal monologue, you can see how this would be more gripping on the page.

There are logic errors that elicit head scratching or giggles. Gugino has the agility and strength in her legs to remove a man heavier than she is when lying down but not to break the flimsy bedsteads she is tied to. She all too quickly resigns herself to being stuck where she is.

Of course, if she had attempted a proper escape, that would have ruined the following drama. In conversation with herself (for emotional support) and her dead husband (who needles her about her frigidity and past trauma), the modern, middle-class marriage is put under the microscope.

The writers – that includes King himself – are on good ground here, but it renders the movie wholly uncinematic. As I said earlier, this is great on the page (or a stage) but not on screen.

Gugino and Greenwood make a solid pairing and there is no fault with their performances. Throughout, they are clearly up for playing a good game as they trade words and witticisms about the state of their terrible union this ‘happy holiday’ was meant to fix. They are also an uncommonly handsome couple – when this movie was released, gorgeous Gugino was 46 and gym-toned Greenwood, incredibly, 61.

See the official Netflix trailer and webpage for more.

Cast & credits

Director: Mike Flanagan. 1h 43m/103 min. Intrepid Pictures/Netflix. (18).

Producer: Trevor Macy.
Writers: Mike Flanagan, Jeff Howard, Stephen King.
Camera: Michael Fimognari.
Music: The Newton Brothers.
Sets: Patrick M. Sullivan Jr.

Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood, Chiara Aurelia, Carel Struycken, Henry Thomas, Kate Siegel, Adalyn Jones, Bryce Harper.