While nothing groundbreaking, the story mines a degree of profundity out of the traditional supernatural thriller tropes at its core.

It helps that Hilditch has Jane in the central role. Along with Carla Gugino’s turn in Gerald’s Game, Netflix has two of the strongest performances in any King adaptation to date.

1922 is a ghastly slow burner, not the kind where nothing happens until the last ten minutes, but rather the kind that layers minor incident upon minor incident until they tally up to something major.

At its best, it’s a reminder that King’s biggest strengths lie in his unparalleled ability to build tension, create atmosphere, and tell a direct and brutal story, not in his ability to launch profitable many-branched franchises.

Zak Hilditch's 1922 informs Steven King's pulp feminism with primordial, biblically ugly force.