Storm of The Century Is Warm Blanket, Slow Burn Stephen King Horror
Storm of the Century follows the residents of Little Tall Island, Maine (the same town featured in Dolores Claiborne) as they prepare for an incoming storm. There is a somewhat unnerving casualness to their approach to this event that quickly establishes this place and its people. Like the lifetime residents of Florida who prepare for hurricanes with an extra case of beer, the people of Little Tall Island have been here before. The Waffle Houses will remain open.
Two events soon complicate their routine. The first is the increasingly popular projections that suggest this upcoming storm will be a big one. The biggest in, say, 100 years or so? Perhaps, but let’s not jump to conclusions.
The second is the arrival of a mysterious man who – in the opposite of the “save the cat” trope – quickly murders a sweet old woman. After submitting to police custody, the man identifies himself as André Linoge (Colm Feore). The townspeople soon learn horrifying details about the stranger. He knows secrets about them that nobody should know, he can manipulate their perception of reality, and, when asked what he wants, Linoge only replies “Give me what I want, and I’ll go away.”
What does André Linoge want? That question isn’t answered until the last 45 minutes of this nearly four-and-a-half-hour miniseries. On the rare occasions when Storm of the Century is discussed online, it is often criticized for its runtime and pacing. The prospect of watching Linoge taunt increasingly befuddled townsfolk for nearly four hours with minimal progress to the series’ initial narrative hook is simply unappealing to many. While the series is broken up into three, movie-like chunks, that’s still a far cry from the more modern eight-plus episode streaming series designed to encourage binges. For that matter, Storm of the Century lacks the abundancy and urgency of the cliffhangers seen in some of King’s other, more famous miniseries.
To be fair, those who find such King stories – and similar small-town mysteries set against snowy backdrops – to be warm blankets will be more than happy to simply let this magnificent premise and location wash over them. That’s to say nothing of the stellar cast. If names like Jeffrey DeMunn, Becky Ann Baker, and Steve Rankin give you the vapors, you may want to take the necessary precautions before settling in with this hall-of-fame collection of character actors who feel like they were born from a Stephen King novel.
Those not destined to love such things must realize that Storm of the Century’s slower pacing is part of the reason why it succeeds where other King movies and series fail. All that extra time allows Storm of the Century to explore the subtler moments of King’s storytelling style that often go overlooked.