Streaming Review: Gerald's Game (Netflix)
Welcome back to Dark Corners Streaming. Netflix original, Gerald’s Game is based on the novel by Stephen King. I haven’t read the book but I gather it’s a pretty faithful adaptation. Jessie and Gerald’s marriage has a problem. ‘You haven’t touched me in months’ So they go away to a remote holiday house to play out a fantasy of Gerald’s.
Jessie is apprehensive, but that turns out to be the least of her problems. 'Gerald? Gerald?' As well as the death of her husband, Jessie now has to deal with the fact that she is handcuffed to a bed with no hope of being found, no way of getting free, no food, no water and a hungry dog, that is eventually going to move on from her husband to her.
'Bad dog!' It sounds like a kinkier version of 127 Hours. But now Jessie’s mind starts to unravel. ‘Well I’m pretty sure you just lost your mind’ And, because this is Stephen King, there is also a more traditional horror aspect. Leaving us unclear about what’s real and what’s not.
'I think it's a foot print' What’s most surprising about this film is how little it’s about Jessie trying to escape, and it does feel like we could have seen her trying a bit harder early on, but, this is about more than surviving the immediate situation, that situation is now a metaphor first for her relationship with Gerald and then for the rest of her life.
‘He put you in those handcuffs way before Gerald did’ as the voices of Jessie’s fears and insecurities become disturbingly real, dredging up buried secrets from her past. ‘That’s a beautiful dress’ fantasy blurring with reality. It’s a gruelling ordeal for Jessie and Carla Gugino does a fantastic job as the character goes physical and mental tortures.
'She was standing there in that red dress looking right at me.' It’s also pretty gruelling for the audience; 90% of the film is in one room and that makes the tension unrelenting, there’s little relief from the situation. ‘How long do you think someone lives without water?’ Which is definitely not a criticism; it’s a tough watch, but so it should be, it tackles some tough subjects along the way.
