1922 (2017)
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A farmer and his son commit a horrific murder to prevent a move, only to be haunted by the consequences of their actions.
The story
In 1922, Wilfred James is a farmer in Hemingford Home, Nebraska, living with his wife, Arlette, and their 14-year-old son, Henry. When Arlette plans to divorce Wilf and move to Omaha, Wilf convinces Henry to help him murder her to keep the family on their land. After the crime, the couple attempts to hide the body in a dry well. However, the act leaves them plagued by guilt and psychological distress as they struggle to maintain their facade of normalcy while the consequences of their actions begin to manifest in their home.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1922, Wilfred James, a Nebraska farmer, conspires with his son Henry to murder Wilfred's wife, Arlette, because she wants to move to Omaha. After Wilf cuts Arlette's throat and they dump her body in a well, they attempt to cover up the crime. As time passes, Henry becomes depressed and runs away with his love, Shannon Cotterie. Wilf begins to see rats everywhere and suffers from hallucinations of Arlette, who reveals that Henry and Shannon became 'Sweetheart Bandits' before Shannon died in a robbery and Henry committed suicide. Wilf is eventually hospitalized for a rat bite and told a woman's body was found nearby. Years later, in 1930, Wilf writes a confession as his house is swarmed by rats. He is confronted by the corpses of Arlette, Henry, and Shannon, and Henry threatens to kill him with the same knife used in the original murder.
- First release year
- 2017
- Runtime (minutes)
- 101
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Zak Hilditch
- Writers
- Zak Hilditch · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Thomas Jane · Wilfred "Wilf" Leland James; Molly Parker · Arlette Christina Winters James; Dylan Schmid · Henry "Hank" Freeman James; Kaitlyn Bernard · Shannon Cotterie; Bob Frazer · Mr. Lester; Brian d'Arcy James · Sheriff Jones; Neal McDonough · Harlan "Harl" Cotterie
- Genres
- horror; drama
- Themes
- Guilt; Isolation; Consequence of Violence; Rural Decay
- Tone and mood
- Somber; Haunting; Slow-burning; Grim
- Setting
- Hemingford Home, Nebraska, 1922-1930
- Premise and plot tags
- Uxoricide; Farm Life; Supernatural Horror; Crime Drama
- Source material / true-story basis
- Stephen King's 2010 novella '1922'
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for Thomas Jane's performance and the patient storytelling.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 91% · review count: 44; Rotten Tomatoes · score: 6.9/10 · scale: 10 · review count: 44; Metacritic · score: 70 · scale: 100 · review count: 8
- Production trivia
- The corn depicted in the film was made using props from China, computer graphics (CG), and shots taken in Australia.; Director Zak Hilditch chose to adapt the story because he found it to be 'cinematic' on its own.; Principal photography took place in Vancouver to take advantage of tax credits.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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