1922

(2017) Based on the Stephen King novella, 1922 stars a nearly unrecognizable Thomas Jane as farmer Wilfred James, a prideful man struggling to keep his meager farm afloat with the help of his devoted teenaged son Henry (Dylan Schmid), even as wife Arlette (Molly Parker) has grown tired of living this life, and informs Wilfred one night that she wants to sell off some of their farmland - her inheritance - to Wilfred's biggest competitor and neighbor, and have the family start anew in the city. When Wilfred says no way, Arlette shocks him further by saying that she's fine with that ... but is going anyway and taking Henry with her, whether he likes it or not, using the money from the sale of her land (which Wilfred can't afford to buy, himself) to open up a dress shop. Needless to say, Wilfred doesn't like it, and after mulling things over decides on what he feels is his only option: killing Arlette. Working to slowly poison Henry's mind against his mother, the evil woman trying to take the boy from the farm/home he loves to the corruption of the big city, Wilfred does indeed convince a horrified, terrified Henry to help, and the fumbled murder ends up with Arlette in a dried-out well, Henry filled with guilt, and Wilfred telling tales of Arlette running off to the city and abandoning her family. That is, until everything begins to unravel, and Wilfred begins to start seeing and hearing things. I expected just a bit more ... Pet Sematary-ish weirdness from this film (the trailer is a bit misleading, I fear), and while certainly supernatural elements are present in the final thirty minutes of runtime, what felt like a horror story coming turned out to be more of the story of how an act of evil curses a man and his entire family. Jane is brilliant, Dylan Schmid equally worthy of praise in what should be a breakout role for the young actor. Just wished the film had packed a better, more satisfying punch, going out with a bang instead of a whimper. (rated TV-MA)  6/10 stars