1922 Movie Review

“Murder is sin.  Murder is damnation.  But murder is also work.” - Wilfred James

1922 is a 2017 Netflix original film based on a short story by Stephen King.  It is written and directed by Zak Hilditch, and stars Thomas Jane, Molly Parker, and Dylan Schmid.  The story is set in the year 1922, and follows Wilfred James (Jane), a hard-working farmer with an extremely antagonistic and demanding wife named Arlette (Parker), and a teenage son named Henry (Schmid).  When Arlette wants to sell the farmland given to her by her late father, Wilfred states that he would rather not pursue that course of action.  But when Arlette announces she wants a divorce, and is going to take Henry with her to Omaha, Wilfred decides that one way or another, he is going to keep his son, and the farm.  He points out to Henry that Arlette is always making judgmental and hurtful comments to both of them, and enlists Henry to help him kill her.  For the entire rest of the runtime, everything that the two men worked so hard to keep starts to slowly fall apart, including their sanity.

This film came out around the same time that It and Gerald’s Game came out, and since 1922 is a smaller film than both of those movies, it got widely overlooked, and didn’t get the attention that it deserved.  This movie is a chilling and uncompromisingly dark portrait of the nastier side of the human condition, similar to one of my favorite films of all time: There Will Be Blood.  Like There Will Be Blood, 1922 shows the terrible things that greed can cause someone to do.  The story is haunting, and moves at a slow pace, giving it enough time to show everything in full, gritty detail.  The pacing makes you feel as if you are slowly rotting away with the characters, as their guilt and selfishness takes over.  The script is written very carefully, and uses voiceover very effectively.   

All of the actors here are amazing, but Thomas Jane steals the show.  His portrayal of the heinous, conniving, yet very intelligent Wilfred is incredibly convincing.  Nearly every character in this movie either is slimy and manipulative from the start, or becomes this way after descending into their own personal hell at a gradual pace.  Thankfully, not only Thomas Jane, but the entire cast understands this, and all give emotionally complex and layered performances.  

The cinematography is wonderful, and the set pieces and props give the film an old-fashioned feel, while still remaining unnerving and creepy.  Speaking of unnerving, there is a consistent usage of imagery involving rats in this movie, and the longer the film goes on, the more rats appear, and the more significant their presence becomes in terms of things they symbolize.  Cows are also seen a lot in the film, and there is a parasitic relationship between the cows and the rats that perfectly parallels the parasitic relationships of some of the characters in this movie.

The music is spooky, and atmospheric.  It uses a lot of dissonant chords that add to the sense of dread that is ever present throughout 1922.  Another one of the things that I appreciated about this movie is the ambiguity.  There are a few different moments near the end that are really difficult to tell whether they’re actually happening, or if they’re just a result of the characters losing their minds.  I loved this aspect of the film, although it took a little bit of thinking and processing on my part to come to that conclusion.  At first I was confused about what was real and what wasn’t, but when I gave it some thought, things occurred to me that I hadn’t thought of at first, and I appreciate that this is a film that makes you think.  

Probably my favorite aspect of 1922 is the progression and change of tone and genre throughout the film.  It starts out as a very dark, and somber drama, gradually getting darker and darker as the film goes on.  It eventually gets to a point where it becomes a psychological horror film, creating terror from the character’s internal demons.

I only had one real problem with 1922.  There is a character arc in the film that wraps up very quickly, and is revealed through a flashback scene.  I found this to be a little bit lazy, and I wish that the film would have went over it in a bit more detail.  Other than that, I had a great time watching 1922, and I really think that it deserves more recognition and praise than it got.  I definitely recommend checking this one out.   

Rating: TV-MA

Grade: A