The Netflix adaption of Stephen King’s novel “Gerald’s Game” grasped the audience and captured the heart of the novel. The protagonist, Jessie, fights to stay alive as she tries to cope with grief and learn to handle her emotions, all while working to open herself up to the idea that some things in life are not acceptable.

The movie and the book use the concept of a couple going into a wooded outback in an attempt to reconnect and spice up their sex life. However, after getting into the bedroom and being handcuffed to the bedposts, Jessie tells her husband, Gerald, to stop and uncuff her. At this moment, they get into an argument, and

Gerald suffers a heart attack. Jessie, still handcuffed to the bed, must use her wits to survive while dealing with the death of her husband and memories from her past.

The premise being focused around Jessie sitting and laying in bed trying to survive starvation and dehydration may sound like a boring concept, but the film is far, far from it. The struggles that you see in her face trying to survive, such as reaching for a glass of water on the shelf, seems trivial to someone not in that situation, but are a matter of life and death for her. In watching this play out on the screen, you sympathize with Jessie because of the exquisite acting by actress Carla Gugino.

As the movie switches between the present with her specters — the image of Gerald and the image of herself — and her past as a child, you get a grasp of what motivations Jessie had for why she married Gerald and behaves the way she does.

These scenes are portrayed as dream sequences where hours have passed by, and she wakes back up to be with her specters, having conversations with them. One, the image of herself, represents her will to survive. The other, the image of Gerald, represents the side of Jessie that wants to give up. These two specters help her to decide what she wants to do and aids in her in planning her escape.

Although a pleasure to watch, the ending of the film is really slow and drawn out, and uses narration to explain some of the holes left earlier in the film.

The film is a masterpiece that stuck to the source material, given some things had been taken out. To include everything from the book, the plot would have been overly complicated and hard to follow, as well as extending the run time significantly. By leaving these things out, they had the audience’s attention for the entire duration of the film.

“Gerald’s Game” was a great film, and as long as you have a safety blanket with you, you’ll be fine watching this psychological thriller film.

Brianni Henderson is a freshman biochemistry major from Everett. She can be contacted at [email protected].