{Fantastic Fest 2022} King on Screen

In a surprise to literally no one a documentary about Stephen King’s cinematic influence is making its festival rounds. I say that with a little snark but a ton of love. Stephen King’s popularity continues to rise as legions of kids who grew up reading his novels and watching his movies become the creators of our content. It felt like an organic development when I learned King on Screen was happening. It felt right. A culmination of the nostalgia many of us feel when we watch cult favorites like Stand By Me, or The Shawshank Redemption. I did not expect the documentary to be so good. Not just good by genre documentary standards, but an evocative movie that surely will stand out as a hit at this year’s Fantastic Fest. King of Screen is an absolute gem.

The first fifteen minutes of the documentary is essentially a short narrative film jam packed with Easter eggs and special cameos. It felt weird. Not necessarily in a bad way but definitely in a ‘am I watching the right thing’ way. The rest of the film focuses on a number of classic Stephen King adaptations each getting their ten to fifteen minutes of exposition. Each film comes with talking heads discussing how the movie was made. The absolute super star of most of the film is Frank Darabont who is so full of anecdotes and funny quips it only makes his films (The Shawshank Redemption, and The Mist to name a few) even more endearing. You also get a sense of just how close a relationship Darabont has with King. There is an awkward birthday celebration on set of The Green Mile that had me smiling from ear to ear. There is a Bruce Willis story in the middle of this segment that really makes Hollywood feel like a place where magic can happen.

Any movie that discusses Night of the Living Dead will have a champion in me. The Creepshow segment begins with a discussion of Romero’s NoLD only to pivot to Greg Nicotero discussing how the bug segment of the anthology was made. It is in moments like this the editing of the feature really shines. Slickly moving between scenes from the movie and actors, and directors discussing those scenes we get brief but entertaining explanations of the Mise en Scène.

It is also important to note that while King is known as a genre giant King of Screen really triumphs when examining his impact on the non genre cultural landscape. His impact on universally beloved dramas becomes a driving force of the movie. Stephen King writes human beings so well they are interesting to watch even when they aren’t being chased by killer clowns, or giant tentacled monsters.

It feels only right that the film saves the most current and relevant director for the end. In the final act, Mike Flanagan discusses how he approached Dr. Sleep. Deeply interesting he discusses how he wanted to connect his movie to the previous Kubrick movie we have come to know and love from the 80’s. He wanted to figure out a way to “parent trap them back together”. It is eye opening and the connection to King’s own troubles with substance abuse become relevant. Flanagan gets King and should be given as many chances as he can get with other source material.

It was a joy to experience this in festival format surrounded by other genre fans. The joy of a movie like this is that it will also play nicely at home where generations of movie fans can reflect back on King’s illustrious cinematic career with the same love I did. Yellow Veil Pictures will handle the eventual distribution of King of Screen. Find a big screen to watch it on if you can.