Gerald's Game (2017)
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A woman trapped in handcuffs must survive the night after her husband dies of a heart attack in an isolated house.
The story
Jessie and Gerald Burlingame arrive at an isolated lake house in Fairhope, Alabama, for a romantic getaway. During a tense moment in the bedroom, Gerald dies of a sudden heart attack, leaving Jessie handcuffed to the bed without the key. Trapped and alone, she must find a way to survive the night while battling her inner demons and the physical constraints of her situation. As hours pass, she faces the reality of her isolation and the looming dangers of the night, forced to confront her past and her current predicament to find a way to escape.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Jessie and Gerald Burlingame are on a romantic getaway at a lake house in Alabama. During a planned roleplay, Gerald dies of a heart attack, leaving Jessie handcuffed to the bed. As she waits for help, she experiences hallucinations of Gerald and a version of herself, while a dog enters the house and begins to mutilate his body. She encounters a mysterious figure known as the 'Moonlight Man.' To escape, she eventually cuts her wrist to slip out of the cuffs. After a period of trauma, it is revealed that the Moonlight Man is a serial killer named Raymond Andrew Joubert. The film concludes with Jessie confronting Joubert in court, where she finds strength in her survival.
- First release year
- 2017
- Runtime (minutes)
- 103
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Mike Flanagan
- Writers
- Mike Flanagan · screenplay; Jeff Howard · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Carla Gugino · Jessie Burlingame; Bruce Greenwood · Gerald Burlingame, Jessie's husband; Carel Struycken · Moonlight Man" / Raymond Andrew Joubert; Henry Thomas · Tom, Jessie's father; Kate Siegel · Sally, Jessie's mother; Adalyn Jones · Maddie, Jessie's sister; Bryce Harper · James, Jessie's brother; Chiara Aurelia · Mouse" (Young Jessie)
- Genres
- psychological horror; thriller
- Themes
- sexual trauma; survival; marriage
- Tone and mood
- suspenseful; horrifying
- Setting
- An isolated lake house in Fairhope, Alabama.
- Premise and plot tags
- survival; psychological thriller; horror
- Source material / true-story basis
- Stephen King's 1992 novel of the same name
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised Carla Gugino's performance and Mike Flanagan's direction. The film's themes and their treatment were also singled out.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 91% · scale: percentage · review count: 81; Metacritic · score: 77 · scale: 100 · review count: 12
- Production trivia
- The film was long thought to be unfilmable.; Stephen King called the film "hypnotic, horrifying and terrific".
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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