1922

Much like Stephen King's 1408 (a short story from his Everything's Eventual collection), 1922 is another short story that transfers well to the silver screen. 1922 is an American Gothic tale set at a family's comfortable farm in the mid-west. Hundreds of acres of pristine farmland, a thriving crop, a proud father, and blue skies as far as one can see. The husband has plenty to love about life here, except for his ill-contented wife. This idyllic scene becomes the backdrop of husbands conniving treachery, and a thematic string of mishaps and horrors which follow. The sweet life is not so sweet anymore. Thomas Jane churns out a strong and convincing performance not to be missed.

Based on Stephen King's novella of the same name, 1922 is like Stephen King's own version of Allen Poe's timeless classic THE TELL-TALE HEART story that set around here Wilfred James, a Nebraska farmer with a bitter wife named Arlette and a loyal son named Henry. This hardworking but not-too-successful farmer finds himself under increasing pressure from his wife when she clearly started to express her frustrations living in the country and wants to sell her all of the 100 acres of land that she got inheritably and move to the big city. Through their disagreements, when Arlette threatens to divorce him, taking the son with her, Wilfred plots to murder her and methodically persuades his son to become his partner in crime. This is beautifully done, an effectively slow-burn horror-drama directed by Zak Hilditch and like the way Carla Gugino turned GERALD'S GAME into her own showcase of versatile acting talent, this time almost an unrecognizable Thomas Jane delivered one of his best performances in career, IMO. His deeply sincere & committed performance as an early 1920s manipulative, desperate farmer with a slowly rotten psyche…was not only an absolute treat but surely this year's one the best so far that deserve some recognition in the coming award season.

I didn't know what to expect from this movie, and I hadn't even heard about it prior to finding it on Netflix. I decided to sit down and watch it solely because of the fact that it had Thomas Jane in the lead role.

The movie has a very nicely constructed storyline, especially since director Zak Hilditch was so adept at letting the story carry itself and build up momentum.

There was some really good acting from an equally nice cast. I will say that Thomas Jane was expertly cast for this role, and he really lived up to the role in every sense. He was very believable and pulled it off quite nicely.

The rats were a fantastic image of Wilfred's guilt gnawing at him and gradually breaking down his psyche. There was a very good atmosphere throughout the entire movie.

The great costumes and make-up also helped the movie along quite nicely.

If I have to put my finger on something here, then I would say that the storyline did suffer from being somewhat predictable though.

Despite Stephen King being one of my favorite authors I have to admit I'd never even heard of 1922 let alone read it.

I tend to enjoy Stephen King adaptations, they're not all flawless but many have been outstanding and therefore I do tend to seek them out.

1922 is one of two Stephen King Adaptations released by Netflix in the same year beside the disapointing Geralds Game. It stars Thomas Jane & Neal McDonough set in *Drumroll* 1922. It tells the story of a farmer who with the aid of his 14yr old son decides to kill off his wife to maintain the life he is acustomed to and for financial security.

The movie is dark, gritty and sombre as you would imagine and Jane may well be at a career best here.

If you're expecting horror you will find very little, that simply isn't what 1922 is. If it had to be compared to anything I'd say Edgar Alan Poe's a Telltale Heart would be a good fit.

It doesn't make for the easiest viewing and has elements from Of Mice & Men (That she tell you all you need to know) but regardless it is a powerful piece that managed to entertain even despite my initial concerns.

The Good:

Thomas Jane is excellent

Great narration

Looks fantastic

The Bad:

Not for animal lovers

Difficult viewing

Questionable pacing

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Not that I thought about it at all but he made some weird choices in covering up the murder *Ahem* not that I in anyway put deep thought into getting away with murder

I loved it from start to end. Thomas Jane gives another excellent performance!

The plot is thrilling and makes you want to keep watching even if it's a slow-paced film. It reminded me a lot of old school horror/suspense films from the 80's. The ones that didn't depend on jump-scares or stupid demonic creatures to make the whole movie.

Don't listen to those few people arguing the film was boring because it was slow. Maybe they're used to jump-scares and serial killers. This is a very simple but deep plot that is worth seeing.