1922 (Zak Hilditch, 2017, USA/Canada)

1922 is certainly one of the more faithful Stephen King adaptations in recent memory. Adapted by Zak Hilditch from the novella written by King for his collection Full Dark, No Stars, 1922 is an almost word-for-word retelling of the King novella, changing very few details - if any. The film is particularly surprising given the interiority of King's novella - it is entirely told in the first person, from the perspective of Nebraska farmer Wilfred "Wilf" James. Hilditch's film largely keeps the first-person narration of that story, following Wilf's slow descent into his hell.

One of the issues with adaptations of King's stories is their inability to fill out a full-feature film using the text. Some stories simply do not offer enough "meat" to fill out a feature film. 1922 runs the risk of this, as the central plot point - Wilf's murder of his wife Arlette occurs very early on in the film. The rest of the film traces Wilf's progressing guilt over this action, as well as the ripple effect it has on his son Hank. The reason the film succeeds is largely due to Thomas Jane. Jane, who is no stranger to Stephen King (he appeared in both Dreamcatcher and The Mist), is very convincing in this period role.

More than anything else, 1922 is a mood piece. Once the initial deed is done, we can see the trajectory that the film will take. Hilditch manages to keep the tension by incorporating many of the supernatural or quasi-supernatural elements of the source material, including the appearance of numerous rats. 1922 might have the most rats of any Stephen King adaptation since 1990's Graveyard Shift. While 1922 may have a limited audience, it is perhaps for the best that the film appeared on Netflix, as it is guaranteed to reach the widest audience.

7/10