Known for his twisted psychological thriller and horror novels, Stephen King is one of the most revered and prolific writers of our time. He published his first short story in 1967 and has gone on to release nearly a hundred novels and novellas since. Given this vast output, there are few subjects King hasn’t touched — among them, grief, fear, and human resilience.
While King is deeply beloved by horror fans, his work defies a singular genre. He’s written classics such as The Shining, Stand By Me, Misery, and It. Whether you’re a longtime King fan, or if you’re just familiarizing yourself with his writing now, here are a few film adaptions you can dive into on Netflix.
Gerald’s Game
Directed by Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, The Fall of the House Usher) and based on the novel of the same name, Gerald’s Game is a tense psychological thriller that plays with the main character’s psyche. The film follows Jessie (Carla Gugino) and her husband, Gerald (Bruce Greenwood), who head to their lake house for a getaway in hopes of saving their marriage. But after Gerald handcuffs her to the bed with plans to enact an abusive fantasy, he dies of a sudden heart attack — leaving her trapped. The film explores the depths we can psychologically travel to in grief and fear, exploring themes of disassociation and facing inner demons.
Mr. Harrigan’s Phone
Directed by John Lee Hancock and based on King’s novella, this supernatural thriller follows young Craig (Jaeden Martell) who discovers he has the ability to contact the dead with a little help from modern technology. Like many of King’s novels, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is set in a picturesque Maine town, where we meet the down-on-his-luck teen, who is struggling to financially fit in with his classmates. Craig begins reading books to Mr. Harrigan (Donald Sutherland), a billionaire with bad eyesight who pays him $5 an hour to do so. But when Mr. Harrigan passes away, Craig finds himself able to communicate with him via iPhone … and quickly realizes that his vengeful spirit might have an effect on the living.
1922
Based on the short story by King that was published in 2010, 1922 follows Wilf (Thomas Jane), a farmer who admits to killing his wife, Arlette (Molly Parker), to deter her from selling their farm and moving to the city with their son. Guilt-ridden and haunted by her ghost, Wilf and his son quickly begin to devolve into madness. The duo are plagued by the knowledge of what they’ve done, and the farm they once loved becomes cursed with visions of Arlette.
Based on the novel of the same name and directed by Andy Muschietti, It is set in a small town in Maine during the summer of 1989. The film stars Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise, a demonic entity who appears as a clown (among other twisted things) and torments a group of teens who are not-so-fondly referred to as “The Losers Club.” Included in this club are Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard and I Am Not Okay With This’ Sophia Lillis. Pennywise tortures the group by shape-shifting into their worst fears, exploring themes around childhood trauma and the necessity of friendship.
In the Tall Grass
Based on the novella by Stephen King and his son, Joe Hill, In the Tall Grass follows siblings Cal (Avery Whitted) and Becky (Laysla De Oliveira) who are lured into a grass field in Kansas when they hear a child crying within. Once they pass the threshold, the siblings quickly realize that getting out is not as simple as it seems. While the duo try to escape, the supernatural forces that lurk there produce nightmare scenarios that throw off their sense of time, and force them to confront the choices they’ve made.
