Gerald's Game Review

Gerald's game is a film co-written and directed by Mike Flanagan. The trailer of the film excited me a lot since its a film from a director who has given us some great horror films and also its off a Stephen King book. Stephen King has influenced many of the contemporary filmmakers today.In the end, I was much satisfied with the final product.

Plot: Jessie and Gerald go to a secluded home to spice up their romance.

Story and direction: Many people have termed this film as a horror one. But I don;t see it in that way. I see this film as more of a psychological drama one. Unless, you have a ghost in the film it isn't a horror one for me, at least. Minutes into the film, I was engrossed. The dog the appears on the road terrified me a lot. Then the scenes where Jessie gets paranoid and starts talking to her dead husband and herself got me hooked to. The possibilities of her getting out and just surviving are talked about in these conversations. I was always feeling the tension for Jess. Then we get to Jess' childhood and the kind of abuse she had during that phase. Another thing to mention is about the continuity. It never felt that there were some 2-3 takes. The whole film felt like it was shot in a single take. This credit is for the editing (Flanagan too was the editor). I was touched by those parts. Then during the final phase of the film, I was engrossed. But some things just happen at the ending which was just awkward. I felt like "Really". That was the biggest flaw of this film I would say. It started out on a very high note but the end was not so satisfactory.

Performances: Carla Gugino was great as Jess. I was feeling for her in each of the tensed moments on the screen. Bruce Greenwood was also good as Gerald. The different shades of his character were pulled off effortlessly by him. The rest of the supporting cast was good too.

Favorite Scene: It would be that scene where Jess' father convinces Jess not to tell a single sole of the abuse. The fear, sadness, tension, etc.. can be seen in Jess' eyes. And then we get a dialogue from the present Jess that he could face her with the lies, but not the truth. That dialogue was just the icing on the cake. We also got to learn more about Jess in this scene.

Verdict: Given the budget of the film, I would say I was impressed. Although a few hiccups in the final scenes, but yes it's a decent watch. Mike Flanagan has again proved that he is one of the finest directors out there.

I am going with an 8/10.