Gerald's Game

For the longest time, Gerald's Game was considered the unadaptable Stephen King novel, as it focused squarely on one character and the narrative largely took place in the character's head as she not only tried to work her way out of her predicament but also deal with some deeply repressed memories that this situation brings back. But, not only did they manage to do it, in the process they created one of the better King adaptations.

Jessie (played by Carla Gugino) and her husband Gerald (played by Bruce Greenwood) are taking a trip to their secluded vacation home for some rest and relaxation with the hope of rekindling their marriage in the process. Gerald suggests a kinky sex game that involves Jessie being handcuffed to the bedposts. Jessie decides to go along with it allows her husband to handcuff each wrist to one of the bedposts. However, when the fantasy takes a darker turn, she pushes him away and demands he take the handcuffs off. He tries again and she kicks him away and he decides to give up. Before he can get up to get the key to the handcuffs, as they are real and not the crappy public versions that break easily, Gerald suffers a major heart attack and dies right there, rolling off the bed onto the stone floor below. No matter how much she struggles, she is unable to slip out of the handcuffs and because of how she is on the bed she can't get enough leverage to break the bed posts. As hours dwindle away, Jessie has to figure out how to use the few things around her to survive and escape. This is made all the more difficult as her psyche starts to crack as she sees hallucinations of her husband alive and talking to her as well as another, stronger version of herself. She also begins to have flashbacks to a traumatic time in her childhood as her family gathered to watch an eclipse and within those memories may lie the key to her escape. 

Mike Flanagan directed the film from a script he wrote with Jeff Howard and the two of them capture the novel quite well, especially given the rather lean hour and forty-three minute run time. The novel set a rather unique challenge as the bulk of the film takes place in a bedroom at a secluded vacation home with only a couple characters. Yet, they manage to create an absolutely riveting film within those confines. It does help that there is an extended flashback to when Jessie was a child and spending time with her father (played by Henry Thomas) to break things up a little. But for the bulk of the film, it is that one room and they are able to keep the film moving at a hearty pace to make up for it as Jessie works out how to get out of her situation. They also do a nice job of personifying the two warring sides of her mind in the form of her husband being the negative and herself being the positive to not only keep things interesting visually but also as a unique way to present her working out how to get out of her predicament. They also manage to keep the to a minimum until the towards the end there is a moment that is so excruciatingly gruesome that even I was cringing and looking away. I won't give specific spoilers, but I figured I'd forewarn the more squeamish of my readers.   

The performances in the film are quite good with Carla Gugino being the clear stand out, giving a great performance as Jessie. She really gives it her all and really sells the agony, despair and also the strength her character has and taps into. I've always enjoyed Carla Gugino as an actress and it's nice to see her in a lead role that she can really sink her teeth into and she more than rises to the challenge. Bruce Greenwood is good as well as both her husband and as her hallucination later on in the film, subtly hinting at the unknown layers to his character. Henry Thomas also does well as Jessie's father in the flashback, not playing his role in a stereotypical way either (I'll refrain from saying more to avoid spoilers for those who have not read the book). 

The film works in a few nice references to other Stephen King works with notable nods to both Cujo and The Dark Tower. However, the biggest one is to Dolores Claiborne. In my review of that film, I talked about the connection between the two novels. This film does a wonderful job of preserving that connection with Jessie talking about a dream she had that explicitly references the other film. It was a nice little easter egg for me and my fellow Stephen King fans. 

Gerald's Game is a lean and gripping thriller with a unique setup that keeps the viewer's attention from beginning to end. Packed with great performances and solid direction, this was a satisfying thriller as well as a rather faithful adaptation of the source novel as well.