Secret Window is adapted from a novella by Stephen King - surely one of cinemas most filmed authors. Even now there are three more movies and two television series of his work in production. This one is from the novella, Secret Window, Secret Garden, featured in the compilation, Four Past Midnight. As in several of his best stories, such as Misery and The Dark Half, the central character is a writer.
In Secret Window, its Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) a successful author tormented by a current, messy divorce from his wife, Amy (Maria Bello) that has brought on an extreme case of writers block. Mort has been drained of his energy and creativity and the words just wont come; instead of writing, he is sleeping for hours in his lakeside cabin.
A knock on the door makes Morts life suddenly go from bad to worse. On his doorstep is a stranger named John Shooter (John Turturro), who accuses him of stealing his story. Shooter demands satisfaction and Morts efforts to pacify him only make him more hostile. There is a frightening suggestion that Shooters kind of justice could be rather extreme and, between the two men, a terrifying cat and mouse game begins. But as Morts efforts to find proof of his innocence become increasingly difficult, he begins to doubt his own sanity.