A nonsensical psychological thriller that went completely off the rails piles laughable twists on top of ludicrous turns on streaming

Believe it or not, Johnny Depp used to be a box office draw, something that’s becoming increasingly hard to remember after the actor was effectively exiled from Hollywood, something he admittedly seems to be perfectly okay with. Throw the fallen A-lister into a Stephen King adaptation and success is nigh-on guaranteed, which turned out to be right on the money with Secret Window.

The feature-length version of King’s contained psychological thriller netted almost $93 million at the box office on a $40 million budget, and while the consensus agreed that the leading man gives a strong central performance as troubled author Mort Rainey, it’s virtually everything else that lets it down.

Relocating to an isolated cabin to try and overcome writers’ block in an effort to finish his latest novel, any notions of solitude are quietly shattered when John Turturro’s mysterious black-suited villain shows up at his door and demands recompense for accusations of plagiarism, which soon becomes a game of cat-and-mouse with potentially deadly consequences.

Nowhere near the top tier of King’s book-to-screen back catalogue, Secret Window was tepidly greeted by critics and audience alike, while the titan of terror’s fans barely even give it the time of day. Nonetheless, the King/Depp combo has proven enough to power the film back into the streaming spotlight, with FlixPatrol outing it as one of the most-watched features on Rakuten this week.

Piling twists on top of turns and growing ever more nonsensical along the way, it’s disposable enough B-tier entertainment that makes for an easy, undemanding, and sometimes unintentionally hilarious watch.