Gerald's Game

Starring: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood, Chiara Aurelia, Carel Struycken, Henry Thomas, Kate Siegel
Directed by: Mike Flanagan
Rating: TV-MA
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A woman (Carla Gugino) faces her worst nightmares when her husband (Bruce Greenwood) suffers a heart attack in bed, leaving her helplessly handcuffed to the bed.

Review:

Tim: It's been hard for me to find time to watch movies on Netflix- with the constant flow of movies on DVD, I haven't found the time to watch many movies that are always available. That's part of the problem- there's no urgency. Well, we're living in a global pandemic, so I've found time to catch up on some movies. I was interested in seeing Gerald's Game for a couple reasons. I'm a big Stephen King fan and while I haven't read the book, I enjoy watching his movies. Secondly, Mike Flanagan has been getting quite a bit of acclaim for his horror movies and series. I enjoyed Oculus and his Ouija: Origin of Evil was the rare horror movie that improves on the original (although it was quite flawed still). So, I was interested in what he'd do here.

Gerald's Game is an interesting film- it felt like a combination of several different sub-genres. At first, I wasn't a big fan of the film. It takes some time to get going, to explain what it's going to be. To give Mike Flanagan credit, the movie does come together and gets better as it proceeds. By the end of the movie, he'd won me over. I might not have loved the film, but I was impressed with what Flanagan had done and had been entertained by the film. This was a worthwhile film and I'm so glad I watched it.

King doesn't always do supernatural horror, and the beginning of this film felt like one of those movies. A wife is left alone and isolated, tied to a bed with no hope of rescuing herself, after her husband dies of a heart attack. She can't reach her phone, as the hours tick by, it becomes more and more apparent that she will die of dehydration and starvation on the bed. That is a horrifying death and I give King credit for spinning this story. As her ordeal proceeds, the protagonist begins hallucinating her dead husband and herself. This is kind of weird, but it does give her an opportunity to talk and interact with people on screen. Again, this is different, but it's fine. It's only as the film progresses that the true plan comes together. At first, the movie takes on a dark, supernatural bent. The Moonlight Man was utterly frightening and effective. I loved the depiction of him and the continual question about whether he was a hallucination or something far more sinister. This is where the film hits its stride- you have this woman chained to the bed. She's dealing with two certain hallucinations, another potentially supernatural sinister entity, impending death, plus long-buried painful memories from her childhood. It's an unbelievable amount for her (and us) to cope with. That's amazing and it felt like Flanagan juggled so much in this film.

The movie's visuals were impressive. Carel Struycken was fantastic as the Moonlight Man, but the makeup and how he was depicted were fantastic. The visuals of the solar eclipse were fantastic- the use of red especially gave the flashbacks and hallucinations an otherworldly quality. Those scenes became lodged in my mind.

I've never been a big fan of Carla Gugino for some reason, but she gives a strong performance here. She was called upon to do quite a lot. Most of the movie has her handcuffed to a bed and yet, she's able to deliver a memorable and effective performance. She was great here. I like Bruce Greenwood a lot, but I didn't fully love his performance here. He's good, but some of his line delivery felt forced. Still, as a whole, he worked well. Henry Thomas was effective in one of the most disturbing and cringe-worthy scenes. Struycken was excellent and it was so great seeing him here. As a whole, the cast isn't large, but it's effective.

Gerald's Game might not be a tremendous movie, but it's a thoroughly effective one. I've now seen three of Flanagan's films- two of them were good and one was decent, but improved on a dull original. Flanagan might not be as talented as some of the best young directors working today, but he's finding success in a notoriously difficult genre. I've enjoyed his films and despite some flaws, he's shown more than a few flashes of brilliance. He's someone we need to keep our eyes on.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7



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