Gerald's Game (2017) User Reviews (431)

Made with infinite class

[jtindahouse · 8/10 · 30 September 2017]

I've only read a handful of Stephen King novels, but 'Gerald's Game' just so happens to be one of them. I liked the novel without overly loving it. It had a memorable ending, but the story was a little bland for my liking. I've heard people say it's one of their favourite King novels and also heard people say it's one of their least favourite, so it's clearly quite a polarising novel. I was excited when I heard it was going to be made into a movie though. I almost always enjoy King movie adaptions and was very interesting to see how they went about the ending I spoke of earlier. It is very rare that I enjoy a movie more than the book version (almost to the point that I can't think of a single example before now), but this is almost certainly a case of that.

When you think of a movie where the plot involves a woman tied to a bed for almost the entire run time, you would think they would scraping the barrel to reach 90 minutes. Instead they comfortable cruise to 103 minutes and it never really feels that stretched out.

All the classic traits of King's work are featured. The well, the eclipse etc. Even the vibe just inexplicably feels like it's directly from his work. Director Mike Flanagan has once again done a fantastic job. He really is becoming a sure sign of a quality film.

The whole cast was admittedly excellent, but it would have to be said that Carla Gugino carried the film. I wasn't too sure with her casting whether she was right for the role, but she proved me wrong to have any doubts. It would not have been an easy role, you're effectively being asked to carry the film on your shoulders, but she nailed it.

I'm really glad this turned out so well. It's a smart, thought-provoking and moving story of survival that actually works better in film form than it did in book form. It's a great time to be a King fan right now, that's for sure.

Superb Stephen King Adaptation, But An Ending I Found Silly Detracted From It

[sddavis63 · 7/10 · 10 July 2018]

I will confess that I have never read the Stephen King novel on which this movie is based. Maybe the end is a bit clearer in the novel, but the ending of the movie really kind of left me a bit empty. I was really enjoying this movie up to that last ten minutes or so. I can't say that I had been particularly familiar with Carla Gugino, who played Jessie in this, but I thought her performance was fabulous. The story begins with Jessie and her husband Gerald (Bruce Greenwood) taking a vacation in a remote place in the hopes of resparking their marriage, which had gone dry romantically and sexually. To do that, Gerald had brought handcuffs and handcuffed Jessie to the bed. To that point this really had something of a "dark comedy" feel to it; it was humourous in a warped sort of way. But it doesn't stay that way for very long. Jessie wasn't enthusiastic about Gerald's handcuff game, or the rape scenario that he wanted to play out with them, and she eventually objected, leading to a fight between them - during which Gerald dropped dead of a heart attack with Jessie still chained to the bed. Alone, with no one to help her, no food, a hungry dog that had found its way into the house and was feeding on Gerald's body and only a single glass of water, she has to find a way to survive. The movie eventually becomes a journey of self-discovery for Jessie as she finds herself exploring the demons in her own past back to her childhood and her relationship with her father and how they connect with the present.

This is really well done, and it includes a few scenes that are absolutely cringe-worthy. I actually had to turn away from the screen a couple of times. But personally I just thought this fell apart a bit with the ending. I didn't like the "Moonlight Man." I didn't think the "Moonlight Man" was really necessary to the story. The dog and just the situation seemed quite sufficient to make this a thoroughly superb horror movie and, to me at least, the "Moonlight Man" took a horror movie and turned it into something silly - although that was only in the last ten minutes or so of the movie. I will say that this definitely has a Stephen King feel to it, and up to that last ten minutes I would have said this was superb. But when an ending leaves me dry I end up having to mark it down just a little bit. (7/10)

Gripping thriller that far exceeds expectations

[shannen-l-c · 7/10 · 17 February 2018]

The second I saw the trailer for this movie it grabbed my attention purely because I wondered how the hell a 1 hour 43 minute movie could built upon the premise of a woman being handcuffed to a bed. But Gerald's Game proved me wrong.

There are so many hidden aspects of this movie that you just don't expect. Carla Gugino's performance as the main character, Jessie, is fantastic and she manages to carry the movie practically all by herself. Jessie's character is slowly dissected throughout and it's living through her struggles - past and present - that keeps you hooked and wanting to watch more.

The relationship between Jessie and her husband Gerald is authentic and believable. Even the character of Gerald (played by Bruce Greenwood), who was in the movie for a very short period of time, brought an element of fear and tension to the movie, when his sexual preferences suggest there may be a more sinister side to him.

Admittedly, it is slow in parts and there are areas where it starts to drag, but ultimately it's an engaging movie throughout. By delving into Jessie's psyche it has you doubt her mental state and what is real and what isn't, but also allows viewers to form a connection with her and sympathise with her as a character.

The ending has a twist that I didn't see coming, which I'm still unsure about. Was it genius or was it silly? I'll let you be the judge of that. Personally, I found it interesting although it didn't necessarily fit right with the rest of the movie.

The only reason this gets 7 stars is because of the slow pacing in places, lack of build-up and slightly unsatisfying ending.

Successfully captures the feel of a Stephen King

[cjs6547 · 7/10 · 30 September 2017]

Stephen King is at times a brilliant writer, and most of his novels give a home-bred 70's vibe. There's the presence of raw indecency and rotten attachments right beside the gore, and this movie is very good at portraying that.

I started watching this movie expecting to get bored at some point, because Gerald's Game is an odd pick of a novel to make into a film. A lot of the story revolves around the heroine spending hours alone and restricted. In a book, the writer has the freedom to play around with memories and weave them into the present, but was the director going to be able to do that?

The answer is, yes, he is, and he does that very well. Kudos to a thoroughly entertaining experience, whether it was the 80's gore effects, the commendable acting of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald, or the shifts from almost comedic to certainly nauseating scenes.

The only thing that bothered me was that the cinematography was a bit dated, and nothing creative. But it doesn't mean that this movie is not worth the watch, and it will be even more enjoyable if you haven't read the book!

Gugino's acting was terrific. The creepiness of isolation and immobilization perfectly captured.

[Fella_shibby · 7/10 · 5 November 2017]

Saw this recently on a DVD. Having enjoyed Flanagans Occulus n Hush, (yet to c the sequel of Ouija) i was excited to see this. The film which is based on Kings novel is about a couple trying to save their marriage by spending time at a remote house. Thru trailer itself, v come to know that after handcuffing the wife on the bed, the husband suffers a heart attack leaving the wife tied up with no help near at all. 127 hours scenario? To make matters worse, there is a hungry dog on the prowl. The wife later starts hallucinating n she goes thru the mental trauma remembering her dark past.The film succeeded in capturing the creepiness of isolation and immobilization n the growing dread. The good thing about Flanagan is that he can manage to build up tension n suspense in spite of minimum characters n action. Hush was the best example. This movie is more of a psychological survival drama with elements of horror.

" 'cause everybody's got a little corner in there somewhere."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 26 November 2017]

Having recently read "Gerald's Game" I still have a pretty good recollection of the book and found this screen adaptation to be very close to the original source. A couple minor points that don't jive would be Gerald's physical health; in the novel he's slightly overweight and not in very good shape, thereby making him a better candidate for a heart attack than a guy like Bruce Greenwood in the role. The other thing had to do with the location of the story. In the book, the house was more like a summer cabin secluded in the woods, whereas this looked like more of a neighborhood type setting. At least that's my recollection, probably more nit-picks than any problem with the screenplay.

The movie here is every bit as tense and riveting as the written word, as most of the fear and horror involves a wife, Jessie Burlingame (Carla Gugino), left for helpless after she's been chained to a bed right before her husband (Greenwood) keels over from a massive heart attack. What was intended as a sexual role play turns into a battle for survival and control of one's imagination over all the potential bad things that could happen if someone doesn't come by to offer aid real soon. Director Mike Flanagan takes the approach of allowing the captive Jessie interact with Gerald, her father (Henry Thomas), and her younger self (Chiara Aurelia) in various imaginary scenarios which ultimately resurrect the trauma of an early child abuse episode.

I have to admit, even though I've overcome a lot of squeamishness regarding physical injury over time, the scene of Jessie freeing herself from the bed had me squirming, to the point I had to get up and grab some apple juice to help the old blood sugar situation. That was just nasty. And lest I forget, that demonic looking German Shepherd looked like he could have gone berserk any minute. He looked more 'Cujo' than Cujo, if you know what I mean.

And then, just as with the Stephen King novel, I thought the ending with the history of The Moonlight Man (Carel Struycken) came across as superfluous and unnecessary to the story. It does make sense in the grand scheme of things, especially with Jessie's nightmarish visions, because you didn't know at the time when she was trapped whether he was real or not. It's just that his revelation seems awkward, like it belonged to a different story altogether.

But anyway, this is a very good adaptation of a Stephen King story, so if you're a fan, there's something here that won't make you dread an unfaithful treatment of the source material. I can't imagine Mr. King himself being displeased with the film at all.

Extremely accurate and faithful to the novel

[Gamezopher_ · 7/10 · 29 September 2017]

Masterpiece. The last ten minutes were brilliantly executed. This director's work is definitely on par with Frank Darabont's movies. Every sequences of the novel is present in the movie. Acting is delivered at its finest. Netflix need more Stephen King adaptations like this one. A must watch for everyone.

-Dude from Blossomsoft

Contains all the pain and heart of the novel

[dudditslucky7 · 10/10 · 29 September 2017]

Ten out of ten. Other viewers can complain all they want about this film being 'tedious' or 'bland', or slightly missing the mark or opportunity, but I strongly disagree. Makes me wonder if they got the true point of the novel, even. Stephen King is NOT a horror writer, so much as he is a writer of characters and extraordinary events that they go through, and most importantly, he writes about the deep emotional experiences that people endure in their lifetimes here on this earth. He tends to throw in dark elements, to be certain, and some of those are downright creepy, frightening, or straight-up horrific; this does not make him a horror writer. And anyone expecting a horror film here will subsequently be disappointed and, I guess, apparently bored. I was not bored, I was riveted the entire time. It's not easy to do what Mike Flanagan does with this adaptation. He nails the mental struggles and fractured psyche of the main character, Jessie, under the strain of what she faces. He also delivers on the heart of King's story, which isn't the present situation she finds herself in as an adult, but rather, dealing with secrets and ghosts from her past that have haunted her all her life, without her truly even knowing 'til her current situation arises. It's a beautiful novel of pain, suffering, secrets, abuse (on multiple levels, by multiple people), and the struggle to not just survive, but also heal and thrive, if possible. Flanagan's film captures the heart of King's story, and it is beautifully rendered, and many scenes are equally visually stunning. I cried at the end of the movie. Bruce Greenwood and Carla Gugino turn in excellent performances, among the best I've seen from both of them. Henry Thomas is equally and fittingly gross. Very well done. Even younger Jessie, played by Chiara Aurelia, was exacted with nuanced grace and heartbreak. This is just a terrific movie. And I find every scene featuring Carel Struycken to be extremely creepy, so I'm not certain how other reviewers find this movie lacking in creep value. I just can't disagree more. I love this movie, it's instantly and already in my top fifteen, maybe even my top ten favorite films of all time. Well done. I'll be watching this one more than once.

Unnerves and unsettles

[Gordon-11 · 8 July 2018]

This film tells the story of a woman who must break free from her shackles in order to stay alive, after her husband dies unexpectedly.

The story wastes no time and gets right into the juice very soon after it starts. I did wonder how they are going to fill the rest of the film, and it turns out there are a lot of subplots that are scary, thrilling and heartbreaking. It is an intense film that unnerves and unsettles viewers.

An HONEST review

[nmalik-99759 · 7/10 · 29 May 2023]

Gerald's Game intrigued me with its premise, but it fell somewhat short of my expectations. While it had its moments, the overall execution, mainly towards the end, left me with mixed feelings.

The film starts with a promising setup, immersing us in a tense and unsettling situation. It explores themes of survival and psychological struggle in a confined space, which initially captured my interest. The lead actress delivered a strong performance, effectively conveying the emotional turmoil of her character. I enjoyed the "hallucination" concept which felt unique.

However, I found myself wanting more depth and exploration of the psychological aspects. While there were certainly intense moments, the narrative seemed to lose some of its momentum towards the end. The pacing faltered in that time period. The "Moonlight Man" could've been utilised more effectively.

On the positive side, the film did a commendable job of translating the source material onto the screen, capturing the suspense effectively. The cinematography and sound design contributed to the unsettling atmosphere, heightening the tension in certain sequences.

While Gerald's Game held my attention and offered some thought-provoking moments, it ultimately didn't fully satisfy my expectations. I appreciate its attempt, but I felt there was room for further refinement.

In conclusion, would I watch it a second time? Yes. Would I recommend you to watch it for the first time? Yes.

If only she would have tried to escape...

[chet19 · 4/10 · 11 June 2018]

Before we get into the fact that 99% of the movie occurred in her mind, we have to point out that she barely tried to escape. It was laughable! She pulled on the cuffs right away at the beginning, but then barely tried again. "Reinforced" wood or not, those bed posts were NOT thick and sturdy. They were skinny and very very breakable. Also, why not roll her feet/legs up over her head and kick at the bed posts? Why not try to grasp the bed post with a leg and yank? Why not try violent up-and-down bouncing to hopefully loosen something up? I mean, why to try escape when you can just imagine people talking to you instead?

Near perfect

[originofsymmetry-503-610804 · 9/10 · 21 September 2021]

Do NOT watch the trailer. It basically gives away some of the best parts of the film and would spoil their impact.

It was darker than I expected, but in a good way. Great cast all round, especially Carla Gugino, and a really well-paced, well thought out story. I haven't read any negative reviews on here but I am surprised it's not higher rated on IMDB. Might have contributed to why I waited so long to watch it, and I wish I hadn't.

*Mild spoilers ahead if you like to know a bit about what you're in for....*

Remarkably similar to 127 hours. Even the escape is just as gruesome, so if you're squeamish be prepared to look away.

It's a happy / satisfying ending thank goodness, which I wasn't really expecting but was very grateful for.

I only wish there hadn't been so many flashbacks. I would have preferred more real time storytelling from Jess to keep the audience focussed in the room. And the eclipse thing was a bit overdone.

Unexpected depth.....

[nyjazzman · 7/10 · 14 April 2019]

A woman trapped by a sadistic husband has to rely on unexplored strengths that emerge in a life threatening situation. This is not really a horror movie, although it's scary enough. Based on a Stephen King novel. I won't reveal how this plays out, but I felt it went off track at the end. Carla Gugino is great, and deserves a lot of credit for making the script work. It's a very small cast of characters, but she really stands out in the way she manages the changes her character goes through. I think I'd like to read the book now.

May be the worst movie I've ever seen

[dracoqc · 1/10 · 10 July 2021]

Seriously guys? 6.9/10? This note is an insult to human intelligence. Starting to wonder how legit are these comments and ratings.

Where to start?

• Endless slow borings parts
• Dialogues that try to be smart but it's just non sense.

• Horror? Maybe in 5% of the movie.

• Main character go in full psychosis after just 5 hours? Seeing mass hallucinations and stuff? Cmon.

-Dehydrated after a few hours? What?

• Predictable and boring flashbacks.

• No dog would do that in that scenario.

• Overused cliche about the bad dad.

• Stephen King is sometime good, sometime bad, sometime very bad. This one is very very bad.

Don't know about the novel, but I found Flanagan's crafting to be excellent! [+69%]

[arungeorge13 · 7/10 · 1 October 2017]

Gerald's Game made me ponder over a lot of things - cases of incest and abusive husbands that fill up our newspapers every day, the event of the solar eclipse, the presence of something sinister (in the dark of the night), and introspection during arduous situations - Mike Flanagan (directing from a screenplay by himself and Jeff Howard, based on a Stephen Kind novel) connects these dots magnificently in a crisp psychological horror-thriller than runs for 105 minutes.

Right from the opening shot (of handcuffs being loaded onto a satchel), we sense the oddness. And it doesn't really surprise when the husband (Gerald, played by Bruce Greenwood) dies of cardiac arrest just when a quarrel ensues before the couple proceed to have BDSMic sex (in an attempt to revive their sexual lives) at their remote lake-house, because Flanagan has already mastered the skill of putting his lead character/(s) in uncomfortable situations (Absentia, Oculus, Hush & Ouija sequel). So, I guess the novel was tailor-made for him to direct. However, I should also mention that this movie veers away from the usual "trapped-person" conventionalities.

Here's a woman (Jess, played by the brilliant Carla Gugino) who's left handcuffed to her bed (yes both hands), unable to even move about. But the movie *actually begins* a little later: a stray dog (whom Jess had fed earlier) walks into the room and bites off a piece of flesh from Gerald's corpse. Then, the hallucinations commence - Jess sees a version of herself, her husband and at times, the story intermittently dives into flashback mode, to the time when she was a little girl, and was vacationing with her parents during the occurrence of a rare kind of solar eclipse.

Spoilers should end right about here. One'd wonder by reading the synopsis given on the IMDb page that this one will be another survival thriller on the lines of 'Hush' or 'Buried', but that's not all it is. The mystery around Jess' survival is indeed the spine of the film though there's plenty more to chew on. She discusses with the hallucinatory version of her (dead) husband on what had transpired in the couples' lives, and how they'd slowly drifted apart from each other - the conversation she should've had with him when he was alive and well. Every time the dramatic element kicks in, Flanagan reminds us that this film is as real as it is fictional. Jess will have to stretch herself to keep the blood circulation going, drink water to sustain, and shoo away the dog when it tries to chomp on her.

The 'Moonlight Man' was a well conceived addition to the goings-on: a sense of gloom prevails, apparently personifying Death itself. The flashbacks provide extensive character development (in a situation where Jess can do nothing but examine her own thoughts and feelings). The final act is on a different plateau altogether: gorehounds should be pleased, but it somehow didn't strike a chord with me. The narration that followed (revealing a plot-twist) also felt out-of-place for a film that had almost stuck to its old-school storytelling roots. I'd say the movie peaks during those stretches where lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur.

Flanagan sees to it that some of the ghastly images that unfold on screen remain with the viewer for a very long time: the Moonlight Man's smile, the color of the surroundings during solar eclipse, ripping a palm open using a piece of glass, the pervasive glances of the dad and the apathetic gestures of the husband..everything leaves a dubious impression.

Verdict: Well-executed psychological thriller with a befuddled finale!

Moonbeams and bone bags

[Howling_at_the_Moon_Reviews · 6/10 · 30 November 2022]

I quite admittedly avoided this one for a bit because I thought it would have to be masterfully finessed to keep this storyline contained in a single room while keeping my attention. I was not wrong... they just did in fact do it exceptionally well.

This movie is engrossing and atmospheric, throwing you head first into her mental and physical struggles. They do a great job of making you feel like you are, in part, experiencing it first hand. This is done with its clever editing along with the high caliber of acting. Both main characters did an exceptional job, truly. Especially the wife, high emotionally intensified scenes are not easy and she did them at great length and with prowess.

I would say my biggest gripe with this was the ending. It felt very "adapted from a book". It went from a storyline within action, to a spoon fed monologue narrating the aftermath for quite sometime in fact. I didn't dislike the way it actually ended, just the way it was executed. Overall this felt like something quite original and different, would recommend.

Okay, but not great

[grantss · 6/10 · 20 April 2019]

After an attempt to reignite the passion in their marriage goes awry, Jessie is left handcuffed to a bed in a secluded house with her husband, Gerald, dead. Not only must she break free from her shackles but she must avoid being killed by a wild dog that figures that Jessie is on the menu. Then she starts to hallucinate and reminisce.

Based on a Stephen King, the movie contains many horror elements as well as human drama and survival drama elements. The survival drama is reasonably interesting, and is the best part of the film. However, it is not substantial enough to be able to make up the entire movie, hence the need for the human drama side, and the horror side, to a lesser degree.

The human drama feels overwrought and often like padding, which, from my previous comment, it is. The horror elements are a bit confusing as they are often products of Jessie's mind, but one part then isn't. This also makes the conclusion quite odd, as it seems to come out of nowhere.

Overall: watchable, but only just, and only for the survival-based intrigue.

Gerald's Game was surprisingly more introspective and less gruesome than I imagined.

[jordanrossreviews · 8/10 · 6 October 2017]

Gerald's Game was surprisingly more introspective and less gruesome than I imagined (except one particularly cringe-worthy scene). From a viewer who didn't read the Stephen King novel the film was based upon, I went into the Netflix original prepared to be disturbed. The film doesn't waste time getting you to the meat of the story. From the start Carla Gugino gives an emotionally powerful performance as Jessie – a mentally abused victim struggling to repair a failing marriage - that sets the tone for the rest of the film. The reluctance she shows toward her husband Gerald (Bruce Greenwood) forces you to never sit comfortably as the plot begins to be painted.

One of the great strengths of this movie was answering the questions you were going to ask before you asked them. Understanding from the beginning that Jessie was to end up handcuffed to a bed throughout the entirety of the film already had me questioning her inability to escape. As soon as you see her situation play out and begin to think of her options, the writers provided answers as to why that isn't possible in a unique and believable fashion. With the multitude of challenges she has to overcome she is forced to relive her disturbing past, which in-turn must help her overcome her shackled state if she is to even have a chance of surviving.

The use of symbolism in this film is constant, but so much so that at times it seems to spell it out for you, or literally tell you. I felt the comparisons between her current situation and her past was a bit too blunt. I would've called for a little less hand-holding and a bit more mystery surrounding the connections that were made between the men in her life. Yet one of the most obvious symbols - the blood- red eclipse – was one that surprised me the most as its representation transforms into a powerful message of strength.

The anchor for this film was Carla Gugino and her amazingly powerful performance with a great showing from co-star Bruce Greenwood. The dialogue and thought process that unfolded from the two kept me emotionally entwined in the story and eager to find out what would happen next. Along with fantastic performers, Gerald's Game was made better with the subtlety of the soundtrack and cinematography. I was more impressed at the times where there was no music playing at all, which seemed often and was appropriate. It built suspense and kept focus on the current scene when all the viewers were left with was the disturbing sounds of her struggle. The eclipse as mentioned was a favorite of mine. The deep red ring emphasized the horror of events unfolding, yet transformed with the character and began something greater.

Even after the movie was finished I found myself thinking over the message that was left for the viewers to contemplate. It was one that I didn't expect and was glad to see at the same time. Gerald's Game was a fantastic physiological thriller that never had me shaking my head in un-believability. I enjoyed the restraint of music in key moments, and was enthralled by the situation presented. This makes two Stephen King adaptations that have nailed the difficult process of transforming a story from a book to film. JordanRoss gives Gerald's Game:

8.1/10

A Very Rare Movie for me - Here's why

[pencritical · 7/10 · 9 September 2018]

I don't really know what kind of detail counts as a spoiler so be warned this might have one - but just a vague one.

I adore Stephen King. I adore his writing, his sense of humor, his politics, his wit, I even like his dog, the thing of evil. But I didn't like Gerald's Game or the Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon -- terribly boring books. Hey, you can't be perfect, Stephen. You're scary enough already and that is a compliment.

So, I watched this anyway and a very strange thing happened. I liked it. I liked it much better than I did the book, which is something that almost never happens. In fact, I can only think of one other time that has happened: The Handmaid's Tale - which is a depressing drivel of a tale that I despise - and yet, I love, love, love the TV show. Usually it's the other way round and I'm sure it is for most people. However this movie brings what I think the book was trying to do into focus and what I missed in the book makes sense now. I'm going to go back and read it again when I have a minute and I'm guessing I'll find more to like this time around.

Still not sure about the Tom Gordon book though. Weird stuff that. Baseball and bears, nah.

Anyway, give the movie a go, but don't expect your typical Stephen King horror and gunk fest. This one is more internal horror and very much about the terrors of the soul and mind. It's good, but for adrenaline junkies it will move too slowly and it has literally no gore, unless you count a pool of blood and a very hungry dog doing what hungry dogs do.

In closing I wanted to give a nod to the great performances by Carla Gugino (amazing) and Bruce Greenwood (he's not only great, but still drool worthy at his age).

30 Minute Story Stretched to Nearly Two Hours.

[vortion-44596 · 4/10 · 9 October 2017]

I watched this movie because I was looking for recent, highly-rated horror movies on IMDb. I felt pretty misled by the rating which was 6.9 at the time of watching.

The premise of the movie stoked my curiosity. I wondered how a woman being handcuffed to a bed could play out in a movie-length production since there didn't seem to be much to go on. Well, it's even more boring than you would expect.

Don't get me wrong, the acting is not bad and the cinematography was a bit above-average as well. However, the story and dialogue dragged on horribly.

At first, watching the interaction between the older couple feels incredibly awkward--and this is good because I think the film is intended to provoke this feeling. It's as if you are invited over to an older couple's house and they break out into an hour-long passive-aggressive fight in your presence. But it just doesn't stop. The characters make obviously stupid mistakes both in their relationship and in their kink-play. Since they make such stupid mistakes it is incredibly hard to relate to them or care about them.

I kept waiting and waiting for something interesting to happen only to find that there was no pay-off. Avoid this movie if you are a horror fan looking for something scary or exciting. This movie is entirely a drama with some dark elements so maybe watch it if you are more geared towards that genre.

Beautiful film!

[Patient444 · 8/10 · 1 October 2017]

This is a step up from your usual horror NetFlix productions and especially from other Stephen King translations. I mean it was a bomb! And in the good way.

So the movie itself has that 127 Hours touch, but far, far better than expected. And without spoiling it to you, I have to say Gerald's Game makes the most of everything. Not one detail is left untouched, the usage of the entire environment, memories makes for a terrific viewing experience.

You'll be fed tension, scares, confusion, hope and denial, a beautiful game indeed that you just have to be part of. And let me say one more thing, the ending, that was just brilliant. The cherry on the cake. The cold beer after a long hard day. Simply put: RECOMMENDED!

Cheers!

Carla in cuffs.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 31 October 2017]

Carla Gugino. In a sexy negligee. Handcuffed to a bed. Consider my interest officially piqued. And while I think that the minimalist plot is a little too slight for a 100+ minute movie, the lovely Ms. Gugino makes it a more than reasonable way to pass the time, not just because she looks great, but also because she puts in one hell of a performance.

Based on a novel by Stephen King, the film sees a married couple, Jessie and Gerald Burlingame (Gugino and Bruce Greenwood), travel to a remote woodland house for the weekend, where they hope to spice up their love life with a little bondage. Unfortunately for Jessie, no sooner has Gerald fastened her to the bedstead with handcuffs (real ones, not those fluffy ones they sell in Ann Summers—allegedly!), than he drops dead of a heart attack. With no-one around for miles, and the key to the cuffs out of reach, Jessie struggles with her sanity while trying to figure a way out of her predicament.

Meanwhile, a stray dog has made its way into the house and starts to eat Gerald, a strange, malevolent figure pays a visit in the night, and Jessie recalls a disturbing childhood incident during a solar eclipse that helps explain why she might be a little flaky.

Gugino's bravura performance carries the whole film, her suffering culminating in an eye-watering scene where she is forced to resort to self mutilation in order to escape her shackles. I've seen a lot of gory horror in my time, but this part of the film was genuinely gut-churning and makes me wince just thinking about it.

I'm not sure what to make of the film's finale, in which the strange creature that appears to Jessie during the night is revealed to be a serial killer with acromegaly, but it was certainly different.

6/10.

Lifetime movie invades horror movie

[ofumalow · 5/10 · 30 June 2021]

OK, I didn't realize until just now (after I'd seen the film) that this is based on a Stephen King novel. Well, no doubt in 400 pages or whatever he was able to manage enough psychological depth to pull off what ends up seeming pretty heavy-handed and contrived here. "Game" has a good premise, and I've liked this director's other movies, but once the central jeopardy kicks in, there's barely any time given to developing its elemental suspense before they start piling on the imaginary figures from her subconscious who advise and/or taunt the heroine during her extreme travail--a lazy fantasy plot device I've always hated. Then it turns out that the story isn't really "How will she free herself from literal chains" but "How will she use this time to free herself from the mental chains of childhood sexual abuse," as related in flashbacks. So what you start out thinking will be a thriller instead becomes a confronting-the-past tale of self-empowerment. Themes like incest are trivialized by a context like "I'm remembering my abuse cuz I'm stuck handcuffed to the bed by my husband who just died of a heart attack." So while well-acted and directed, this just felt like a case where the earnest dramatic elements canceled out the horror elements, and vice versa. Not a personal best for Mike Flanagan.

Just out of reach...

[LWSheffield · 6/10 · 11 October 2017]

**includes spoilers** This is a film about reaching for things which are hard to get, both physically and emotionally. On both counts you find that these ends are reach, but perhaps not by the most desirable means. Jessie's struggle to free herself is quite nicely propelled forwards by ideas arriving through the conversations with her imagined self, Gerald or the flashbacks, and the final means of escape is a teeth-gritting watch that does hark back nicely to the days of more visceral, physical effects. The bump in the road with this film comes with the true narrative behind the 'freedom' Jessie finds not only from the handcuffs, but also from the imposing males that have emotionally stifled her in life. Although this subject is not handled terribly, it doesn't carry enough weight in the relatively short runtime of this film for you to buy in to her new found empowered nature. This is also at odds with the reveal that 'the moonlight man' is actually real - a twist that might not have felt so averse to the tone of the movie if I wasn't presented with the suggestion that he was there to have sex with Gerald's corpse. Gerald however, may take solace in the fact that the dirty weekend he planned was not a total washout.

An engrossing Stephen King tale with cutting-edge twists and shivering thrills, this movie hits the score of an edge-of-your-seat experience

[Screen_Blitz · 7/10 · 26 November 2017]

Stephen King's work has been subject to both ups and downs in the celluloid, some such as 'Green Mile', 'The Shawshank Redemption', and 'The Mist' have been powerfully triumphant, some have been swarmed with the "meh" factor, then others such as 'Dreamcatcher', 'Cell', and 'The Longliers' have been severely loathed. Now we have Mike Flanagan, director of 'Oculus', 'Hush', and 'Ouija: Origins of Evil', coming into to bring another adaptation of Stephen King's novel of the same name Gerald's Game. Premiering on Netflix, this film straps audiences in another ride of King's twisted horror methodology with hair-raising twists and thrills to ignite of shivering atmosphere that challenges viewers' expectations nearly every step of the way. When it comes to providing solid scares and nightmare-inducing aesthetics, the results are moderately satisfying with a few attempts that fall flat and an questionable ending. But with Flanagan working behind the wheel, it is safe to say his effort do justice to King's work. So the film is about Jessie (played by Carla Gugino) who takes some time off an spend a weekend with her husband Gerald (played by Bruce Greenwood) at a lake house in attempt to mend their fractured relationship. Upon arriving, Gerald treats Jessie to a kinky sex game involving him handcuffing her to the bed. When he suddenly suffers a fatal heart attack, Jessie is left handcuffed in the bed with no food, water, or anyone in contact to help free her. As the sun goes down, Jessie experiences some supernatural events that lead her into some dark secrets from her past about her father (played by Henry Thomas).

The film does not pine as your average survival tale, it is a supernatural one that takes a hostage situation and spins it with a Twilight Zone-esque twist. Mike Flanagan holds a solid patent for splashing viewers with cutting-edge thrills and wringing out surprises from supernatural concepts. His efforts pay off to the events that sketch out how a woman fights for survival when her husband's kinky antics are disrupted by an unforeseen tragedy. The execution in which Flanagan operates not only give both Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood the task of taking on challenging roles, but pay satisfying results to a hair-raising experience that dares to leave questioning every step. When Greenwood bites the bullet, Gugino is pulled into a deeply unsettling world where reality and imagination begin to merge, and the haunting horrors of her past are brought to light. That is when the story explores her past relationship with her father who had a morally despicable conduct, and the scares and thrills tautly dominate the atmosphere before taking horrifically gruesome turn that demands the squeamish to turn their heads. Not all the scares land well and some of the thrills fall short of effectiveness. But one major aspect that never fall short of such is the performance by Carla Gugino who packs pure grit for a role that requires her to carry nearly the entire portion of screen time while left stationary to a confined setting. Henry Thomas does a fair job at gripping us with discomfort as does Bruce Greenwood in his oddly dubious role. Every scene with these two present is bound to tie viewers up for one hell of a chilling position. If you are leaning at the edge of your seat with your hands squeezing the sides, you know each of them are getting the job done.

Gerald's Game is an engrossing experience lodged with sheer cutting- edge twists and chilling scares to keep things in rolling in spectacular fashion. It is a film worth indulging in when craving for chilling Stephen King-style scares, but don't expect anything groundbreaking. Going in with a heavy wish list will likely lead to some disappointment if not more.