Gerald's Game
Movie, 2017, The 2000s and 2010s, Set in A lake house
Gerald's Game is #25 of 42 in release order and #16 of 42 in chronological order in the Stephen King Universe.
The story
When her husband's sex game goes wrong, Jessie (who is handcuffed to a bed in a remote lake house) faces warped visions, dark secrets and a dire choice.
Gerald's Game recap
Gerald's Game (2017) leaves a woman handcuffed to a bed in a remote lake house after her husband dies of a heart attack during a sex game. Mike Flanagan directs for Netflix, with Carla Gugino as Jessie Burlingame and Bruce Greenwood as Gerald. The couple go away to save their marriage, and Gerald, taking Viagra, cuffs Jessie to the bedposts. When she refuses his rape fantasy, they argue and he collapses dead. Alone, thirsty and unable to reach the keys, Jessie hallucinates Gerald and a bolder version of herself, who taunt and coach her. A stray dog feeds on Gerald's body. At night a tall, deformed figure she calls the Moonlight Man (Carel Struycken) stands in the corner of the room. Jessie is forced to relive a buried memory: during a solar eclipse when she was 12, her father Tom (Henry Thomas) sexually abused her and made her keep the secret.
Gerald's Game ending explained
Gerald's Game ends with Jessie free and facing the Moonlight Man in court. She cuts her wrist on a broken glass and pulls her hand through the cuff, stripping the skin, then drives away and crashes, and is rescued. Months later she writes to her younger self. The Moonlight Man was Raymond Andrew Joubert, a real serial killer and grave robber. At his sentencing she faces him and tells him he is so much smaller than she remembered.
Post-credits scenes
No. Gerald's Game has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch Gerald's Game
Gerald's Game is streaming on Netflix in the US.
Ratings
IMDb 6.5/10, Rotten Tomatoes 91%
Where it fits
- Release order: after The Dark Tower, before Mr. Mercedes.
- Chronological order: after The Dark Tower, before Mr. Mercedes.
What to watch before Gerald's Game
In release order, 15 Stephen King Universe essentials come before Gerald's Game (2017), from Carrie (1976) to The Dark Tower (2017).
Cast
- Carla Gugino as Jessie
- Bruce Greenwood as Gerald
- Carel Struycken as Moonlight Man
- Chiara Aurelia as Young Jessie
- Henry Thomas as Tom
- Kate Siegel as Sally
- Adalyn Jones as Maddie
- Bryce Harper as James
- Gwendolyn Mulamba as Judge
- Jamie Flanagan as Court Clerk
- Dori Lumpkin as Teenage Girl
- Natalie Roers as Reporter #1
Directed by Mike Flanagan.