OK, I didn't realize until just now (after I'd seen the film) that this is based on a Stephen King novel. Well, no doubt in 400 pages or whatever he was able to manage enough psychological depth to pull off what ends up seeming pretty heavy-handed and contrived here. "Game" has a good premise, and I've liked this director's other movies, but once the central jeopardy kicks in, there's barely any time given to developing its elemental suspense before they start piling on the imaginary figures from her subconscious who advise and/or taunt the heroine during her extreme travail--a lazy fantasy plot device I've always hated. Then it turns out that the story isn't really "How will she free herself from literal chains" but "How will she use this time to free herself from the mental chains of childhood sexual abuse," as related in flashbacks. So what you start out thinking will be a thriller instead becomes a confronting-the-past tale of self-empowerment. Themes like incest are trivialized by a context like "I'm remembering my abuse cuz I'm stuck handcuffed to the bed by my husband who just died of a heart attack." So while well-acted and directed, this just felt like a case where the earnest dramatic elements canceled out the horror elements, and vice versa. Not a personal best for Mike Flanagan.
Review of Gerald's Game
