10 Best Stephen King Movies That Have Nothing To Do With Horror
When people think of Stephen King movies, horror comes to mind, and for good reason. The author is known as the King of Horror, with some terrifying stories to his name, including It, Salem's Lot, The Stand, Misery, The Shining, and many more. King also has countless horror short stories that became movies. That said, King is a brilliant writer who has done so much more than horror. He has published a massive number of books and even more short stories over the years. Many of these Stephen King stories have become movies, including crime dramas, coming-of-age tales, prison stories, and even a sci-fi classic that predicted the reality TV craze.
A Good Marriage (2014)
Released in 2014, A Good Marriage is an often-overlooked Stephen King adaptation, and this is disappointing because it's one of the rare films for which King wrote the screenplay. The film is based on the novella of the same name that appeared in Full Dark, No Stars, just four years earlier. Instead of a horror movie, this is a psychological thriller. Joan Allen stars as Darcy Anderson, a woman who has been married to her husband Bob (Anthony LaPaglia) for 27 years. However, when she goes through some things in the garage while Bob is away on business, she discovers evidence that he's a serial killer. The Stephen King film focuses on Darcy trying to figure out what she can do with this new knowledge and whether she needs to take action to protect herself now that she knows the truth. The movie is a thriller, but it's more of a crime drama than a horror movie, and Darcy's actions drive the plot.
Dolan's Cadillac (2009)
Christian Slater as Jimmy Dolan trapped in his car in Dolan's Cadillac
Dolan's Cadillac is one of Stephen King's most overt crime thrillers, and it has almost nothing to do with straight horror. Instead, the movie examines the actions of a criminal and the fallout from his decisions. Christian Slater stars as Jimmy Dolan, a gangster who threatens a woman named Elizabeth, who stumbles across his illegal actions. When she and her husband, Tom (Wes Bentley), go to the police, they're put in witness protection, but Dolan finds them and murders Elizabeth. This leads Tom to a dark place, and he eventually decides to take matters into his own hands, with some deadly plans for Jimmy Dolan. The movie is King's closest story to an old-school gangster film, with the revenge of the wronged man leading to a twisted conclusion.
Apt Pupil (1998)
Ian McKellen as Kurt Dussander in a Nazi uniform in Apt Pupil
Apt Pupil was a novella in Different Seasons, the same book that King published the stories that inspired The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me. Like those two masterpieces, Apt Pupil was also adapted into a movie, which was not part of the horror genre. Apt Pupil is a psychological thriller that stars Brad Renfro as a high school student named Todd Bowden who learns that one of his neighbors is a Nazi war criminal living under a pseudonym. Instead of turning this man in, Todd begins to blackmail him thanks to his obsession with Nazism and the Holocaust. With Ian McKellen starring as the Nazi war criminal, the story turns into a tale of two people manipulating each other to get what they want, but it was young Todd who ended up winning in the end and destroying everyone around him.
Hearts In Atlantis (2001)
Anthony Hopkins as Ted carrying Carol in Hearts in Atlantis
Hearts in Atlantis is a mystery drama based on the story Low Men in Yellow Coats, a novella that he published in the Hearts in Atlantis collection. The movie follows a man named Bobby who has memories of his past in his childhood home, where he met an older man named Ted Brautigan. David Morse plays the adult Bobby, while Anton Yelchin stars as the character as a young man. When he meets Ted, played by Anthony Hopkins, the older man shows that he's a telepath and can read minds. He offers to help Bobby afford the bike he wants if Bobby reads the newspaper to him each day. This is a tender drama about a friendship between a mysterious older man and a young boy, and it all leads to a heart-wrenching conclusion where misunderstandings lead to a sad ending. It's a very different Stephen King film, focusing on the personal moments between the two friends over any other aspect of the story.
The Running Man (2025)
Glen Powell as Ben Richards, preparing to compete in The Running Man
The Running Man was made twice, and the first one was a terrible adaptation of Stephen King's original story about a man who joins a dangerous competition series to make money for his family. However, the second Stephen King adaptation came in 2025, with Edgar Wright being much more loyal in his storytelling. The movie is based on the Richard Bachman novel of the same name, and it's a sci-fi dystopian film about a man who has to avoid hired killers for 30 days to make enough money to pull his family out of poverty. However, he instead becomes the face of a revolution. This was one of King's earlier efforts, published under his pseudonym, and was full of the anger he possessed at that young age. The Running Man is in no way a horror story, but it's a powerful story of one man standing up against a corrupt system.
Dolores Claiborne (1995)
Jennifer Jason Leigh as Selena, with her hand around her mother, Kathy Bates as Dolores Claiborne.
Dolores Claiborne is based on the 1992 novel of the same name and is a psychological thriller that saw Kathy Bates returning to the King universe after winning an Oscar for her performance in Misery. Bates plays the title character, a woman who works as a servant for an elderly, partially paralyzed woman named Vera Donovan. When Vera falls down the stairs and dies, the police target Dolores as the murderer and launch an investigation. The movie shows flashbacks to Dolores and Vera's relationship, and present-day scenes where Dolores's daughter, Selena (Jennifer Jason Leigh), arrives to help her mother. While the murder mystery is an important aspect of Dolores Claiborne, the main story is about the relationship between Dolores and Selena, and how that plays into their lives, and what might happen when the police discover the truth about Vera's death.
The Life Of Chuck (2025)
Tom Hiddleston as Chuck, dancing in The Life of Chuck
The Life of Chuck is a fantasy drama by director Mike Flanagan, who has become known for his several Stephen King adaptations. While Flanagan is a great horror movie director, The Life of Chuck is far from a horror movie, and it might be the most heartwarming Stephen King adaptation. The movie stars Tom Hiddleston as Chuck Krantz, an accountant who grows up loving dancing. The movie follows the same format as the short story, as it tells the story backward, starting with Act Three, moving on to Act Two, and finishing with Act One. The entire story is about the end of the universe. While that seems grim, this is a hopeful and beautiful story, and it might be the best of the four Stephen King movies released in 2025.
The Green Mile (1999)
Tom Hanks as Paul is walking with Michael Clark Duncan as John Coffey in The Green Mile
The Green Mile was a unique story that Stephen King released because he didn't publish it as a novel, but as several smaller serial novels released each month. While King was preparing for the story's first release, he offered Frank Darabont a chance to adapt it based on the successful adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption.
It was a perfect choice. The Green Mile is a fantasy drama about a group of guards working on Death Row at the Cold Mountain Penitentiary and their experience when a wrongfully convicted man is sent to await his execution. When this man proves to have magical powers, he changes all their lives. Tom Hanks was perfect as the lead guard, and Michael Clarke Duncan delivered a masterful performance as the prisoner. The Green Mile received four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Duncan.
Stand By Me (1986)
Stand By Me main cast featuring Jerry O'Connell as Vern, scratching his head
Rob Reiner sadly passed away in 2025, but he leaves behind one of the best film catalogs of any director from his era. In the 1980s, he directed two Stephen King masterpieces: the horror movie Misery and the coming-of-age drama Stand By Me. The latter might be one of his greatest achievements. The cast was full of young up-and-coming stars, including River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Wil Wheaton, and Jerry O'Connell. The pre-teens starred as four friends who set out to see a rumored dead body in the woods. When their journey ended, their lives were changed forever. Stand By Me was in no way a horror story, based on the Stephen King novella The Body from Different Seasons. It was a sweet and touching drama about youth lost, and it earned an Oscar nomination for its screenplay. To this day, it remains the one Stephen King movie non-horror fans know is based on a King story.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Tim Robbins as Andy talking to Morgan Freeman as Red in the yard in The Shawshank Redemption
The best Stephen King adaptation ever made is The Shawshank Redemption, and it isn't even close. Frank Darabont directed the movie and delivered one of the finest films of the 1990s, one that would have won an Oscar in any year other than the one where its competition was Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction. Even with that competition, it's The Shawshank Redemption that sits on IMDb as one of the most beloved movies ever made based on user ratings. It follows a man wrongfully convicted of killing his wife and her lover as he settles into his life sentence at Shawshank Penitentiary, and the people he encounters there. The movie is a drama with an uplifting ending, and it isn't a Stephen King horror movie at all, but a lesson on never giving up and always looking to the future. The Shawshank Redemption earned seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and it was named to the National Film Registry in 2015.
