1922 is a 2017 movie written and directed by Zak Hilditch and starring Thomas Jane as Wilfred James and Molly James as Wilfred’s wife Arlette. They also have a young son Henry played by Dylan Schmid. Below is my 1922 (2017) movie review.
The screenplay is based on Stephen King’s story by the same name. It centers around a man who enlists the help of his son to commit a horrible act of violence after his wife demands they sell their farm and move to a big city. Of course, the pride that Wilfred has in his farm holds him back and prevents him from yielding to his wife’s demands. From this point on, his entire life turns upside down and his mind starts to play tricks on him where reality becomes mixed with a horrible nightmare.
The movie is a very slow burn. It is told primarily in flashback with some narration thrown in to set stage for Wilfred’s descent into madness. There is not a lot of things happening in this movie that could be considered exciting or memorable. It drives deep into human psyche and shows us how he slowly loses sanity over something that is supposed to be an easy job. It relies heavily on the atmosphere to create a dark and moody tone. This helps it drive further this disconnect that the character is experiencing that is separating reality and fantasy. He becomes so drawn in that he can’t escape it as there are constant reminders all around him of the horrible deed his mind was able to convince him to do.
It’s not that the movie is boring, it just takes it a long time to get things going. There is a lot of disagreement between Wilfred and his wife and how city life she wants is for fools. The movie feels like it should have been much shorter. Speaking as a fan of King who read the original story, this story should not have been adopted to the big screen. It’s more of an atmospheric tale that just works better as a short story. However, Netflix wanted to adopt it for some reason (money mainly. I can’t see this movie being expensive to produce).
Based on online reviews it seems like this movie would satisfy those people who don’t like endless buckets of gore. It has a good cast that did a solid job with what they were offered. The movie has a certain charm to it as it looks “happy”. The theme might be dark but the contrast of colors and the muted cinematography gives it a gritty feel. This will leave you reaching for your phone until about 30 min before the end of the movie. That might work for some, but not those who want action and fast plot progression.
The movie is relatively short and I do recommend it for anyone who likes atmospheric horror rather than gory horror. It has a promising story, but I think it was a slow burn to satisfy more hardcore horror fans.
Available on Netflix (US).
Thanks for reading my 1922 (2017) movie review
