This forgotten Stephen King thriller adaptation still hits hard
Stephen King has powered some of Hollywood’s biggest hits. The one you barely remember might be his most underrated adaptation — and it’s overdue for a fresh look.
One of my earliest encounters with Stephen King’s big-screen nightmares was Pet Sematary, and frankly, that 2019 remake can go straight in the bin. The original from 1989 though – now there’s a horror film that’s still got some real bite. You get all the emotional gut punches about grief and, of course, that infamous bit with little Gage (played by Miko Hughes). Even now, I occasionally stop and wonder how odd it must be to live next to a graveyard just for pets. And as much as we all know King’s been adapted, sometimes badly, sometimes just forgotten – let’s be honest, there’s one from the nineties that stands out above the rest, at least if you’re after a proper white-knuckle thriller.
Why Misery Still Sits at the Top of King Adaptations
A classic premise, done perfectly. That’s basically Misery, Rob Reiner’s 1990 film, and if you’ve managed to go this long without having it spoiled for you – well done. But the basics: best-selling author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) ends up in a car crash, then wakes up in the ‘care’ of Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), his ‘number one fan’. It’s the sort of tense, claustrophobic nightmare that only gets more skin-crawling as you go.
Once Annie reveals her true colours and does some truly grim things to poor Paul (the ‘hobbling’ scene is infamous for a reason), the whole story becomes this warped battle of wills. Annie’s so obsessed with Paul’s upcoming book that she’ll cross any line just to get her ending first. For my money, the bit where Paul tricks Annie into thinking she’s getting the manuscript – only to set it alight in front of her – still holds up as one of the greatest “oh god, what’s going to happen next” moments in any King film.
Misery nails the dark side of fandom years before the internet turned celebrity obsession into a sport. Annie, as played by Kathy Bates, isn’t just a crazed fan – she’s the iconic archetype. Think of her alongside Glenn Close’s Alex in Fatal Attraction: both left such a strong mark on pop culture that loads of thrillers have tried (and usually failed) to match them.
Most interestingly (if you’re the type who keeps track of King’s extended universe), Annie Wilkes does get an updated look in the TV anthology series Castle Rock. There, she’s played by Lizzy Caplan, who – weird coincidence – also turned up as Alex Forrest in the Fatal Attraction TV spin-off. Caplan said in a 2019 interview with Variety that Annie’s original version is basically what you get when a deeply unwell, isolated person spends years untreated: "In the film and book, she’s been living a life of pretty much complete isolation and she doesn’t seem to be treating any of her psychological disorders."
If they tried to make Misery for 2026, you can just imagine Annie as an overzealous influencer, maybe even livestreaming the poor author’s misery to her followers. And yet, somehow, the original film works perfectly even now. The dynamic between stars and their most obsessive fans is all the more uncomfortable given how easy it is to cross boundaries online these days.
What Does Paul Sheldon Owe Annie Wilkes Anyway?
It’s a slightly unsettling question. Misery isn’t just about physical danger; it’s about the moral cost of being adored (and, just as quickly, hated) by faceless strangers. What do you owe your audience – and at what point does fan service become a kind of prison?
An Old-School Review: Roger Ebert's Take
Roger Ebert, everyone’s favourite hard grader, watched Misery when it first came out and handed it three out of five stars. Not exactly a rave, but not a battering, either. Ebert wrote:
"perhaps many other actors could have done what Caan does, although the Kathy Bates performance is trickier and more special. The result is good craftsmanship, and a movie that works. It does not illuminate, challenge or inspire, but it works."
In Ebert’s world, the film was all execution and not quite enough inspiration – which is about as critical as he got for a King adaptation in that era. Personally, I reckon he was being a bit stingy; Misery holds up a lot better than some of the other classics. Sure, Cujo gives you something to think about in terms of family and pets, and Pet Sematary is an anxiety dream about grief, but Misery rips into the complicated, often uncomfortable business of being successful and visible.
The real question – and it’s still relevant in 2026 – is genuinely weird: where’s the line between achieving your dream and ending up trapped by it? If being famous can land you in this sort of trouble, maybe there’s something to be said for living quietly.
Key Cast of Misery (1990)
- James Caan as Paul Sheldon
- Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes
- Richard Farnsworth as Sheriff Buster
- Frances Sternhagen as Deputy Virginia
- Lauren Bacall as Marcia Sindell (Paul's agent)