“Unfilmable” is a word often tossed about with regard to adapting certain books to movies. Generally if books are too high concept or too expansive, studio execs poo-poo the idea of expending all the effort in adapting it, just for it to fail. Stephen King has written quite a few of these books (the dude’s mind is not constrained by possible movie versions) but 2017 has seen several hit screens. While The Dark Tower ended up possibly biting off more than it could chew, It seems to be pretty great (as our review clearly states), and the third King film in two months has a new trailer, and it’s perhaps the most “unfilmable” of the bunch: Gerald’s Game.
This is just the latest film by horror machine Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Hush, etc.) and, as he told Mick Garris in a recent podcast interview, he’s been a King devotee for a very long time and Gerald’s Game is a passion project among passion projects. Indeed, the book doesn’t seem very conducive to film; it’s about a woman handcuffed to a bed and stuck there after her husband dies of a heart attack prior to a kinky sex game. She then lets the voices in her head run rampant as she attempts to free herself. A movie that takes place entirely in one room or in the thoughts of one character? Flanagan was up to the challenge.
The cast consists of some excellent actors, with Carla Gugino playing the poor handcuffed woman, whose strength might be found through trauma suffered as a child, and Bruce Greenwood playing Gerald, who dies but then reappears as her sense of doubt. We also see Henry Thomas as a menacing person from the past. Surprisingly, it looks like it’s all gonna work. Maybe nothing’s truly unfilmable.
We’ll get to find out for sure when Gerald’s Game hits Netflix on September 29. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!
Images: Netflix
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist and the host of the horror documentary series One Good Scare. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!
