Mike Flanagan’s 5 Best Movies and Shows to Watch Before The Dark Tower

Continuing his mission of bringing Stephen KIng ’s legacy to the big screens, Mike Flanagan is now set to make the author’s probably most ambitious adaptation to-date, a show based on King’s 8-part book series The Dark Tower.

The project is still far from its production start, but King has already reassured his and Flanagan’s fans that the first drafts are just everything he’d ever wanted for his story.

Now that it might take a while for The Dark Tower’s new version to arrive, King’s fans are likely to want to have a look at Flanagan’s previous works — especially given that the director’s next project won’t be the first one that adapts Stephen King’s novel.

Gerald’s Game (2017)

Based on King’s 1992 novel of the same name, the movie follows Jessie and Gerald Burlingame, a couple that decides to solve their marital problems by spending a weekend in a remote lake house. What started as a romantic getaway turns into both Jessie and Gerald’s worst nightmare when the latter suddenly dies after having his wife handcuffed to the bed.

Released back in 2017, Gerald’s Game became some sort of a notorious name for those who watched it and were repulsed by a specific gut-wrenching scene — the movie is on Netflix if you dare check it out.

Doctor Sleep (2019)

Adapted from King’s 2013 novel of the same name, Doctor Sleep is a sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s hit horror movie The Shining with Jack Nicholson in the leading role.

In Flanagan’s film, the plot revolves around grown-up Dan Torrance who still struggles after being traumatised by the events that happened in Overlook Hotel, though now he must use his psychic abilities to deal with a cult movement known as the True Knot.

Despite its numerous merits, Doctor Sleep is still one of King’s most underrated adaptations, yet it’s the one that features some of the most horrifying and disturbing sequences that the horror genre has seen in the last decade.

The Life of Chuck (2025)

Coming as King and Flanagan’s latest collaboration, The Life of Chuck stars Tom Hiddleston as Charles "Chuck" Krantz whose life is changed forever by three crucial events which have their own parts in the movie.

The Life of Chuck premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival back in 2024 and was met with universal acclaim. The film is now set to arrive at theatres on June 6.

The Fall of the House of Usher ( 2023)

Staying away from Stephen King’s novels this time, Flanagan now turns to Edgar Allan Poe’s mysterious works, initially bringing one of the latter’s most famous short stories to the screen.

The Fall of the House of Usher follows Roderick and Madeline Usher, siblings who are in control of a corrupt pharmaceutical company and who later on have to face the consequences of their actions when all six of Roderick’s children start dying in a very mysterious way.

Midnight Mass (2021)

This show is a pure gem at least due to the fact that it’s one of those few projects which Flanagan wrote himself without turning it into another adaptation — and Midnight Mass proves its creator’s ability to come up with compelling stories of his own.

The show follows a businessman who, after being released from prison, returns to his hometown and becomes a witness of numerous supernatural events that started right after a new mysterious priest came to town.

Midnight Mass received praise from many critics and viewers, also including Stephen King who gushed over Flanagan’s creation in his social media.