Misery
1990 · Directed by Rob Reiner
Original language: English
- drama
- thriller
The story
After an accident, acclaimed novelist Paul Sheldon is rescued by a nurse who claims to be his biggest fan. Her obsession takes a dark turn when she holds him captive in her remote Colorado home and forces him to write back to life the popular literary character he killed off.
What it’s like
Snowbound interiors and a single isolated farmhouse under flat, pale winter light give Misery its claustrophobic look: Rob Reiner keeps the camera close and steady in cramped bedrooms, dim kitchens and a wood-paneled room where the grey outside seems to press against the windows. The palette runs to muted browns, dirty whites and the sickly yellow of lamplight, with long unbroken takes that let tension sit in the frame, and the score swells with orchestral strings only at moments of shock. Violence is present and sometimes harsh, including a jarring crash, a grim injury and a few sharp scenes of torture and cruelty that land hard rather than lingering in gore. The mood is tense, sour and darkly comic, with bursts of wry humour sitting against real dread, and the pace builds steadily toward a fraught, bruising final act. A stranger with a dangerous hold over a wounded man slowly turns the relationship between writer and fan inside out. It suits a stormy night in with the door locked, and it is best for viewers who enjoy psychological thrillers and can handle brutal scenes and clammy unease rather than anything gentle.
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