Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
A simple yet proud rancher conspires to murder his wife for financial gain, convincing his teenage son to participate.
1922 is a competent Stephen King adaptation that benefits from a committed central performance by Thomas Jane and a genuinely grim, suffocating atmosphere. The slow-burn period horror works reasonably well, and the guilt-driven narrative has some effective psychological weight. However, the film is largely conventional in structure — a man murders his wife, descends into guilt and haunting — and doesn't offer much that distinguishes it from other King adaptations or rural gothic tales. Cinematography is serviceable but unremarkable. The ending is bleak and consistent with the tone, though not particularly surprising. Novelty is the weakest link; the haunted-by-guilt premise is well-trodden, and the film executes it competently without real distinctiveness.