Johnny Depp’s Stephen King Thriller Secret Window Is Streaming on HBO Max

Stephen King has spent decades turning nightmares into some of Hollywood’s most memorable horror movies. His work still inspires filmmakers, and a new wave of adaptations is bringing his stories to fresh audiences.

The latest Carrie adaptation has already been renewed for a second season after earning rave reviews. The Long Walk brought King’s brutal dystopian story to theaters in 2025. Mike Flanagan is still developing a television adaptation of The Dark Tower, and Netflix plans to revisit Cujo.

Some of King’s lesser-known stories have slipped under the radar, though. One 2004 adaptation deals with paranoia, isolation and the frightening possibility that you can’t trust your own mind. It is now finding a new audience on streaming.

That film is Secret Window, the 2004 thriller starring Johnny Depp. It is based on King’s novella Secret Window, Secret Garden. A troubled writer’s quiet retreat turns disturbing when a stranger accuses him of stealing a story. The movie currently ranks No. 4 on HBO Max’s movie chart, according to FlixPatrol.

What Is Secret Window About?

David Koepp, whose credits include Stir of Echoes and Panic Room, wrote and directed the film. Depp plays Mort Rainey, a successful writer going through a bitter divorce. Hoping to find peace and get back to work, Mort retreats to his secluded lakeside home in upstate New York.

The solitude doesn’t last. A mysterious man named John Shooter (John Turturro) shows up at his door and accuses Mort of plagiarizing one of his short stories. Mort brushes off the claim at first. Shooter grows more threatening as he demands justice for the alleged theft.

As the confrontation escalates and disturbing incidents pile up, Mort struggles to work out what is really happening around him. Secret Window differs from King’s more creature-driven adaptations because it builds its horror on psychological tension. The remote setting, the increasingly erratic protagonist and the growing paranoia blur the line between reality and delusion.

The film has developed a following among King fans, but critics have been more divided than they were on his most celebrated adaptations. It holds a 46% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, against a 65% audience score. Critics praised Depp’s quirky performance but argued that the story loses momentum toward the end.

Mixed reviews haven’t stopped the film from appealing to viewers who like psychological thrillers. Depp gives Mort an increasingly unsettled energy, and Turturro makes an unnerving adversary. Secret Window may not rank among King’s most acclaimed adaptations. Still, its paranoia and escalating dread offer a change from the supernatural horror that often dominates his screen legacy.

Related: 10 Stephen King movies that are better than the books they adapted

Source: Polygon