You may not have realised it, as it has crept up upon many, but in the world of television and film we are currently seeing a shift in habits that has had, and will have, major consequences. For now is the era of streaming services and binge-watching. In recent years companies like Netflix and Amazon Prime have not only had films and series available to stream but have been in the production of their own material. Stranger Things, for example, was one of the world’s biggest successes this time last year. Movies are now being made with well-known actors and high production values that are the equal of many you will see at the cinema.
The latest of these is the movie 1922, based on the Stephen King novella first published in Full Dark, No Stars (2015). It’s a bleak, dark tale of murder and revenge set in (surprise surprise!) 1922. Wilfred (Wilf) James is a Nebraskan farmer who marries a young wife, Arlene, and inherits her father’s land. He is generally content with his rural life and with that of his relationship with his son, Henry. Unfortunately, Arlene has other plans. Never content with her life as a farmer’s wife, she has plans to sell up the family’s land and move to Omaha to open a dressmaker’s shop.
Wilf comes to the conclusion that the only way for things to continue as they are is to kill his wife. To do this, he enlists his teenage son, and together they carry out a plan. The rest of the film deals with the aftermath of this, the consequences of their actions and the cumulative effects on both Wilf and Henry.
This is a slow-burn sort of movie that drags you in. It’s not a whiz-bang outright scary movie like say, IT, with jumps and shock-cuts galore, but a much steadier, creepier, subtler movie. The revelation here is Thomas Jane (also in the Stephen King movie The Mist) whose subtle portrayal of Wilf shows us a person that is not a mere simple farmer, but one with depth and character. As Wilf he has the difficult role of carrying the movie, telling both the narrative and being the main focus of the story. He is on screen for 95% of the film, and manages to hold our attention throughout. It is a bravura performance.
In addition to Jane’s acting, the movie looks great and clearly shows that money has been spent in the right places. Directed by Zak Hildritch, it is a surprisingly assured film. 1922’s slow yet relentless pace keeps things together right until the end when the creepy King horror elements (or are they HP Lovecraft?) really appear.
As a result, it’s probably one of the best recent adaptations of a Stephen King story I’ve seen. There no fuss and no major in-your-face shocks, but it is eerily effective.
If you are looking for a good King movie that’s not IT, The Shawshank Redemption or The Green Mile, this might be the one to see. It confirms that Netflix is now a serious contender, not just in screening movies, but also in movie production – let us hope that their work continues to be of this quality. Recommended.
1922
Based on the novella by Stephen King.
From Netflix, October 2017
103 minutes
Review by Mark Yon
Starring Thomas Jane, Molly Parker and Dylan Schmid
