As of lately, Netflix has been coming out with a number of different, new TV shows and movies that are fit for the community of those yearning for something new with their subscriptions. With new movies like “Gerald’s Game” and new TV like “Stranger Things: Season 2,” people have a good incentive to be on Netflix often. One newly released movie on Netflix that helps feed this incentive is “1922,” a Netflix original movie based on the novella by Stephen King.
When it comes to movies based off books from Stephen King, we would often expect them to be in the horror genre of movies. With movies like “The Shining,” “Cujo,” “Christine” and “It,” people have come to associate any movie that has King’s name in it to be of the horror genre; however, “1922” was much less of a horror film, and more of a dark drama.
“1922” separates itself from other King movies specifically with the setting. Set in 1922, hence the title, a family lives in their quiet house on the countryside, while enduring a number of emotional struggles. At the center of this is the person to whose viewpoint the story is being told from: a man named Wilfred James. The perspective from which this story is told is actually similar to “Stand by Me,” where the narrator tells the story from the perspective of writing the story while it is being told.
While some Stephen King movies have proven to be chilling in that they have scary horror elements, this movie does so by its dark and unfortunate plot that arises throughout the movie. After they are both feeling agitated by her, Wilfred and his son, Henry, collectively decide they wanted to murder Wilfred’s wife, Arlette, due to the way he and his son were being treated by her thinking this would better their family life in the long run. Unfortunately, after this event, they begin to face a number of challenges that heavily challenge Wilfred’s ability to keep his family life intact.
Throughout this movie, we see numerous occurrences of family struggles and how hard it is to cope with them. This movie aims to teach the lesson that you can’t simply commit one selfish act like murder and expect everything to go back to normal after. Wilfred faces many challenges that prove regret, including his son’s psychological troubles, trying to maintain his house even more than previously and trying to hold off an ongoing investigation of the murder. At the end of the movie, Wilfred sums up what this movie conveys by saying “In the end, we all get caught.” This alludes to the fact that no matter how long he tried to fight off these physical, mental and emotional challenges, they would always come back to burden him for what he did on that day in 1922.
“1922” does well in how it tells its story by depicting three well played characters who each struggle to make their family life balanced. There is no real ‘happy ending’ to this movie as its way of storytelling isn’t to eventually have a climax that resolves all of Wilfred’s problems. It is actually quite the opposite, as it tells the reality of a family’s struggle to live well, after the unfortunate instance of murder deters away any chance of recovering a good family life. This movie’s purpose is to show the viewer (and reader for those that have read the book) and Wilfred as he writes the story, that everything always comes back after committing a selfish, naïve act.
Looking for another spooky Stephen King adaptation? Check out recent Netflick of the Week: “Gerald’s Game” based off of King’s 1992 suspense novel.
