Gerald’s Game is an American psychological horror thriller directed by Mike Flanagan which will mess with your head way more than you think it will. It doesn’t exactly have a fair lot of blood and gore but it’s still enough to make your skin crawl. This delightfully gruesome screenplay is an adaptation of the novel Gerald’s Game by none other than The King of Horror, Stephen King. Flanagan would carry around his copy of Gerald’s Game to every meeting hoping to pitch the idea, but most people were convinced that it was ‘unfilmable’ but Netflix came along and smoothed things out.
The chilling tale involves Jessie and Gerald Burlingame played by Carla Gurgino and Bruce Greenwood respectively, a couple going to a cabin in the woods in an attempt to salvage their dysfunctional relationship but little do they know that it’ll turn out to be a haunting nightmare and that one of them won’t make it out of alive. Gerald cuffs her to the bed then dies of cardiac arrest right when he’s on top of her. Talk about bad timing. This little rendezvous opens a door which Jessie had kept closed for years. Even though she’s tied to the bed for the majority of the film, the acting is impeccable, especially the first half of the film. ‘Everybody’s got a little corner in there somewhere; a button they won’t admit they want pressed..’ This dialogue gets you thinking doesn’t it? The moonlight man, Andrew Raymond Joubert perhaps was the scariest character in the entire film, impressively played by Carel Struycken. Though some would argue otherwise.
There is a very strong presence of symbols throughout the film, from the handcuffs that she has been wearing since her father put her in them which are also a reminder of all the men in her life, to the stray dog which symbolises patriarchy, a hungry starving dog just waiting to attack the fresh meat, a constant threat to Jessie. Towards the end, Jessie refers to herself as a runaway bride, always running away from situations but there has been a significant development in the character arc of Jessie. She’s put into shackles of silence by her father and then shackles of comfort by Gerald and running out on this one wasn’t the easiest, quite literally. The eclipse serves as a terrifying and clever symbol of the cycle of abuse which nobody can look at directly and somehow it takes up the entire sky, something which is still very much present in the society.
The moonlight man in the start symbolised her marriage in which she was oppressed by Gerald, before running out she puts her wedding ring which is a sign of marriage in society into the trinket box which shows that their marriage was over. When the moonlight man showed up in her car, his eyes were red like the red light of the eclipse, here he symbolized the fear of confronting her father, which also ended with the car crash. The moonlight man was a creepy embodiment of Jessie’s deepest fears, something she would run from but was forced to confront, evidently present in the courtroom scene with the changing faces of the moonlight man, where she told him “You’re so much smaller than I remember” and finally faces her fears.
One of the most important key elements that make a horror film a horror film is the sound. The sound in thriller horror films helps to build up the feeling of fear, anxiety, suspense as well as to keep the viewer engrossed about what is going to happen next. The sounds in Gerald’s Game do exactly that. The lack of music in the film keeps us engaged in every scene, making the viewer conscious of every tiny sound or movement. This gives the viewer a chance to take in the film without distractions and absorb the phenomenal acting. Every movement, every dialogue was delivered beautifully and is acknowledged by the viewer. In the film, when Jessie is alone there is very little music but the surrounding sounds have been heightened, which gives the viewer the same feeling of isolation, fear, desperation and pain that the character is feeling. The scene where Jessie finally manages to escape out of the nasty handcuff, the sound of her hand ripping open, was very evident which added to the urgency of the scene making the viewer’s repulse with nausea while somehow also feeling Jessie’s pain.
The most terrifying thing about the movie though? Not the moonlight man or Gerald or Jessie dad’s or even our friend Cujo but the fact that everything in this entire film could very well happen in real life, even the moonlight man yes, whose character was inspired by a real life killer, Ed Gein. But the scene where Jessie is driving and the moonlight man is just casually sitting in the backseat with a supportive smile definitely made your blood run cold, so the next time you’re driving alone do glance behind because what are the odds right? The big takeaway from this film? Face your fears, always tell your story and maybe ditch the cuffs.