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.

Greenwood & Jessie Carla Gugino Burlingame, a middle-aged couple headed up to the lake cabin for a romantic weekend. Right from the get-go, it is clear this is a marriage on the rocks. To spice things up in the bedroom, Gerald brings along some handcuffs that Jessie reluctantly allows to be put on her as she is shackled to the bedposts. But then, the unthinkable happens...Gerald gets a bit too rough, Jessie strenuously objects, and Gerald suddenly clutches his chest and falls off the bed after having a heart attack. This puts Jessie in quite a predicament: alone in a secluded cabin, no one around for days, her husband dying on the floor, and her chained to the bed at the mercy of the elements, her bodily needs, and a meat-hungry stray dog that senses her ebbing strength. The clincher: The Moonlight Moon shows up at night he is real...or a figment of her imagination? .What makes this such a compelling film is how it is able to to be legitimately creepy while also telling a very smart and relevant story. Jessie's predicament is terrifying in and of itself, but then things become more layered as the film flashes back to her childhood in order to better understand how she came to be in this marriage in the first place. It's such a spot-on glimpse at how past traumas can manifest themselves throughout one's life...until they have to be faced head on e.g. the situation Jessie finds herself in on that bed . There is not a single wasted scene here, as everything has meaning either to the plot or character development.In all honest, I think "Gerald's Game" could be a big stepping stone for Netflix, as this is a movie that could have easily premiered in theaters across the country and made millions. It is not just "good for a Netflix show", but rather one of the top films I have seen in quite some time. The fact that Netflix was able to produce something of this utmost quality makes me trust them even more going forward.Thus, even with my high expectations I loved the book, obviously , this adaptation has quickly cemented itself as one of the top movies I have ever seen. It tells a great story, has wonderful character development supported by terrific acting, and is legitimately unsettling at times even to seasoned cinema fans. If you have a Netflix subscription, this 100% needs to be in your queue.

answer: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood and a terrific script. Jesse begins to talk to an imagined Gerald Greenwood and an imagined twin of her who I would call Super-Jesse. The devilish Gerald tries to lure her into sleep, tries to convince her to give up and just wait for death. On the other hand Super-Jesse keeps her focused on surviving.The movie shifts gears when dark secrets from Jesse's troubled childhood are shown in flashbacks. The scenes with the eclipse strongly reminded me of another genius King adaptation "Dolores" with Kathy Bates. Henry Thomas plays the father in the same luring and deceiving way as Gerald. Jesse is cursed with this pattern of male dominators, but in the end her past is the key to her future.Finally a real monster appears in the form of the Moonlight Man. I think in the book King called this entity the "Space Cowboy", the "Gangster of Love" based on Steve Miller's "The Joker" . It's the classic monster of our childhood: it hides in the shadows or under the bed and it comes at you at night. For sure it's just imagination, isn't it?The final climax is something that is hard to watch, be prepared "it's gonna f*cking hurt".Carla Gugino plays all of this physical and psychological torture absolutely convincingly. Bruce Greenwood is awesome, especially in imagined form. His ongoing monologue about how his and Jesse's dead bodies will be found is fantastic. Chiara Aurelia does a great job as young Jesse.Last but not least I bow to Mike Flanagan. The script, co-written by him, stays very true to the book. There is some gore, yes, but the psychological interplay is much more frightening. The direction and camera work is great, I would say this is Darabont-Level. Hooray, Flanagan will also do "The Haunting of Hill House" for Netflix!

checking the locks on my door and my windows it scared me so much! My infamous and also stupid only in my middle brother's mind! saying after reading this book and others has always been "I can make a better movie in my mind while reading a great and frightening book than I have ever seen actually portrayed in a film". What can I say other than I was very fortunate in that God blessed me with an exceptionally GREAT imagination! This was particularly true after having seen "The Shining", which was an enormous disappointment film-wise to me. I had read the book some period of time before the film was released of course and had done exactly what I mentioned earlier making a film in my mind while reading it and of course was expecting great things from the film adaptation because of the director Brian DePalma mostly because of what a great job he had done with King's previous masterwork "Carrie" and was SO! entirely disillusioned by the result because I saw none of the best parts of the book portrayed in a TRUE and believable manner. OF COURSE! and yes, I am totally aware that it can't be true because we are dealing entirely with fantasy here, right?! . Nevertheless, I was so disappointed by this, that I took a LONG off and on break from my devouring of Stephen King books. It just so happened that this film, "Gerald's Game" popped up entirely by chance today on my TV screen. I have not even read the book, but rest assured, I will make it a point to do so now. This grabbed me not literally, but figuratively, of course by the throat within the first 10 minutes and held me transfixed throughout the entirety of the film. It had me shouting literally, and much more than once at the television screen while watching this GEM of a film. The only other film rendering of a King book that I found to hold its own, as well as this one manages to do, was "Delores Claiborne" and of course "Misery". Having been a child abuse victim myself, you can certainly understand why I might find this example and D.C. as riveting as I do. I even have to wonder why it is that King manages to *GET* the entire female child abuse perspective as well as he does--maybe a close relative or friend suffered in the same manner and was able to find a wonderful listener and confidante in him? Just musing here. At any rate, this was a great rendering of very sensitive film subject matter and I truly loved it. I never knew what a great actress Carla Gugino was and of course, Bruce Greenwood, as always, delivers his ultra-snarky and snaky best as a disgusting excuse for a man. He seems to have that particular "role" down to a science. HIGHLY recommend, but def not for the faint of heart!

with seemingly no way out, at the mercy of external forces, including the sinister 'Moonlight Man' Carel Struycker , that threaten to tear her apart.A Stephen King adaptation is always more likely to appeal to me if I've read the book, or the short story excerpt, before hand. Although it's almost certain to be nowhere near as good, there's just something more intriguing and compelling to want to see someone else's interpretation of the novel you have read and had your own conjuring of, to see how closely it matches the presentation that has made it to the screen. Gerald's Game was written by King twenty five years ago in 1992. I read it in about 2001, over fifteen years ago, and at the time would have been dying to see a film version of it. But all the same, in the present day, this has emerged and I still was excited to see it. And, thankfully, writer/director Mike Flanagan's film is no disappointment.The perversely inspired and intriguing concept, that really could only have come from King's twistedly brilliant mind, has as much effect on screen as it does in the novel, and Flanagan creates a wonderfully isolated, eerie atmosphere that suits the mood perfectly. In Jessie's predicament, loud, brash jump scares that permeate so much of what passes for modern horror, are redundant, and so wisely the emphasis is on the psychological, as Jessie lies helpless and goes insane, driven mad by hallucinations of Gerald speaking from beyond the grave, and of herself, as her repressed childhood traumas come to the surface and take effect. Inspired casting also does a great job of keeping things on the level, and all the main cast who are pretty much all of it! fit their roles fine and perform perfectly.It's a pleasingly faithful version of King's novel, which I can still remember all these years later, and while I wasn't as excited to see it as I was then, it's no bad thing to wait for something so masterful. ****

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.