Movie based on Stephen King novel made viewers ‘nearly pass out’

In 1992, Stephen King wrote a novel so unsettling that decades later, viewers say they “nearly passed out” watching its Netflix adaptation, with one admitting the movie “made me sick to my stomach.”

Released on Netflix in 2017, Gerald’s Game takes a concept that feels simple at first and pushes it into something far more intense as the story unfolds.

Directed by Mike Flanagan, the psychological thriller stars Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood as Jessie and Gerald, a couple who escape to a remote summer home for a private getaway – and some kinky sex – that quickly turns unsettling.

With Jessie handcuffed to the bed, Gerald suddenly collapses and dies from a heart attack, leaving her stuck, unable to move, and completely alone. As hours pass, panic sets in and reality starts to blur, pulling her into a fight for survival where painful memories resurface, a stray dog circles, and the growing sense that someone – or something – may be watching from the shadows.

Why the film hits so hard

While many of Stephen King’s stories have made the jump from page to screen, Gerald’s Game was long considered nearly impossible to adapt because of how much of the story unfolds inside the main character’s mind.

“I’ve wanted to make this story since I was 19. I’m a Stephen King fanatic. When I was in college I read the book and thought it was amazing but unfilmable. Half my life I’ve been trying to make this movie,” Flanagan, who created The Haunting anthology series, told the Independent. “In the book, Gerald’s dead and gone by page 10 and the rest of the book takes place entirely in Jessie’s head. It’s a stream of consciousness. The trick for us was trying to make that visually interesting, ”

Trevor Macy, the movie’s producer, added, “Imagine being pitched a film where the main character spends 90 per cent of the movie tied to a bed? People glaze over,”

Flanagan’s version manages to translate that internal struggle into something visual and deeply unsettling, using close, confined settings and intense performances to keep the tension building without relief.

Viewers say they had to look away

What sets the film apart is how it combines psychological horror with moments of physical intensity, leading to a scene that many viewers say pushed them to their limit.

One user wrote: “Be careful. The big climactic scene made me sick to my stomach. I had to take a break before I could come back and finish watching it.”

A second netizen shared an even stronger reaction: “Okay, I genuinely nearly just passed out. Geralds Game has been on pause for 10 minutes. A film has NEVER affected me like that before.”

“I still have chills. And it has been over an hour. I still have chills,” shared a third, while another added, “it scared the crap out of me.”