This film is impressive for so many reasons. It's not just that director Flanagan found a way to make a riveting story that essentially takes place in a single room over a couple of days, with our protagonist handcuffed to a bedpost. It's not just that it is an adaptation of a Stephen King novel, a work that is notoriously complex, dense, and hard to translate to the silver screen. It's not just that the majority of what made the book work was almost entirely internal, and didn't seem like it would even be filmable, let alone entertaining.
Ultimately, what makes it a great film is that none of the above things popped into my mind while watching the film. Flanagan makes the hard work of good filmic exposition look easy. He weaves themes artfully, creates character through iconic, tiny moments, and lets the audience do as much of the work as the filmmakers themselves did in understanding and interpreting the story.
Mike Flanagan is without a doubt one of the visionary horror filmmakers of our age, along with Jordan Peele, James Wan, and a small handful of others who learned from the past, incorporated that past into their psyche, and allowed their deeply unique and specific visions to spill out unfettered on-screen. This film may have come from a Stephen King novel, but it is a Mike Flanagan movie.
Ultimately, what makes it a great film is that none of the above things popped into my mind while watching the film. Flanagan makes the hard work of good filmic exposition look easy. He weaves themes artfully, creates character through iconic, tiny moments, and lets the audience do as much of the work as the filmmakers themselves did in understanding and interpreting the story.
Mike Flanagan is without a doubt one of the visionary horror filmmakers of our age, along with Jordan Peele, James Wan, and a small handful of others who learned from the past, incorporated that past into their psyche, and allowed their deeply unique and specific visions to spill out unfettered on-screen. This film may have come from a Stephen King novel, but it is a Mike Flanagan movie.
